The USDA has released its labeling requirements for organic foods. Consumers will have to look at the labels carefully to see just how much of the food is actually organic. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
The USDA has released its labeling requirements for organic foods. Consumers will have to look at the labels carefully to see just how much of the food is actually organic. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Under the USDA’s National Organic Standards, you won’t be able to just look for the USDA Organic seal. The government agency is allowing four different levels of organic. Only the top two levels can actually use the USDA’s seal. There’s 100-percent organic. And then a product can claim to be “Organic” , but only be 95-percent organic… and still get the USDA Organic seal. Other products can claim “Made with Organic Ingredients” or claim “Some organic ingredients” and show the percentage on the back. Based on marketing history, you can imagine how the label on the front will be able to take advantage of that word “organic” in the “some organic ingredients” statement. Still a saavy consumer will be able to tell just how organic the product is by looking closely at the label. Products with the new labels will soon be on the grocery shelves.