Buyer beware

Companies Misleading Consumers with the Word 'Organic'?

Some food companies have found a way to cast their processed foods as organic without going through the inconvenience of using certified organic ingredients in their products. By incorporating "organic" into their names, these companies have been able to display the magic word on the packaging of food products that are not in fact certified organic.

This deception has recently been called out by the Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog group, which has filed complaints with the National Organic Standards Board and Federal Trade Commission.

The alleged infractions run the spectrum from blatant misrepresentation, in the case of Oskri Organics, to stretching the limits of evolving definitions of organic, in the case of a surprise entry in Cornucopia's list of shame: the much-loved Newman's Own Organics.

Regulations and standards needed.

Organic for Health

President's Cancer Panel

If you haven’t yet heard the news, you will. Yesterday the President’s Cancer Panel released a report that is nothing less than monumental for the organic food movement.

It urges consumers to choose food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, antibiotics and growth hormones to decrease their exposure to chemicals that can increase their risk of developing cancer.

This landmark report by a prestigious mainstream scientific panel is recognition at the highest level that the chemicals present in our environment have direct and serious consequences for human health — especially for children, who are far more susceptible to damage from environmental chemical exposures than adults.

Finally the halls of the White House are telling us what we knew for so long.