Health & Fitness
Organic food labels: What do they mean?
Do you ever look at the different organic food labels and wonder what they mean? Read this to clear the confusion!
Organic food labels can be confusing! We go to the store and see claims like "organic" and "100% organic" and "Made with organic ingredients" without any explanation of what these mean and what the differences are. Use this cheat sheet to clear the air and understand what you're eating!
When the label says "100% Organic" it means that all of the ingredients in this item are organic. The USDA organic label is permitted for these items (OK, that was an easy one).
When the label says "Organic" it means that 95% or more of the ingredients in this item are organic. The other 5% are not GMO, not irradiated and not produced using sewage (yes, I said "not produced using sewage," and yes, that means that it has to be said. Some farms will use sewage sludge as food crop fertilizer. If you're wondering what, exactly, sewage sludge is, it's anything that has been poured, dumped and flushed into the wastewater system... it has been "treated" but nonetheless gagging is appropriate here). The USDA organic label is permitted for these items.
When the label says "Made with organic ingredients" it means that 70% or more of the ingredients in this item are organic. The other 30% are not GMO, not irradiated and not produced using sewage. The USDA organic label is not permitted for these items.
When there is no "organic" label it means that less than 70% of the ingredients in this item are organic. The "organic" label is not permitted, however, organic ingredients can be listed.
Have questions? Please ask!
Phillip Gamble
Chiropractic Physician
White Oak Family Wellness
405 Illinois Ave #2b
St Charles, IL 60174
(630) 442-0057
http://www.whiteoakwell.com/
