Page Title

(NOTE: The following article is shown in its entirety, although it contains many errors of
detail, because on the whole it reflects the truth, and also because it reflects some aspects
of the situation not reported elsewhere. ---A. H.)

From: Environment News Service <www.ens-newswire.com>

U.S. Foods Labeled Organic May Still Contain Synthetics

WASHINGTON, DC, October 28, 2005 (ENS) - Congressional negotiators have
agreed to permit certain non-natural, synthetic materials to continue to be
used in processing organic foods, an issue that has split the organic foods
industry in two.

The provision to amend the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) was added to
the Fiscal Year 2006 spending budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) by Senate and House negotiators on Wednesday night.
The new legislative language was made necessary by a court decision in June
that barred products processed with synthetic ingredients from using the
USDA's 100 percent organic label.

Language to allow the synthetic substances, such as hydrogen peroxide to
clean containers that will hold organic foods, was written by the Organic
Trade Association and food processors.

The Organic Trade Association says it had "submitted language to Congress to
amend OFPA to allow the continued use of a limited list of stringently
reviewed synthetic materials in post-harvest handling," said Katherine
DiMatteo, executive director of the association.

In 2002, the USDA's organic label was first applied to foods that meet
standards established under the Organic Foods Production Act.
But Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association,
called the move a "stealth attack" by industry on the organic food standards
developed through 10 years of public hearings.

"Congress voted last night to weaken the national organic standards that
consumers count on to preserve the integrity of the organic label," he said.
"The process was profoundly undemocratic and the end result is a serious
setback for the multi-billion dollar alternative food and farming system
that the organic community has so painstakingly built up over the past 35
years," Cummins said.

"The rider will take away the traditional role of the organic community and
the National Organic Standards Board in monitoring and controling organic
standards. Industry's stealth attack has unnecessarily damaged the standards
that helped organic foods become the fastest growing sector in the food
industry," said Cummins.

As passed, the amendment sponsored by the Organic Trade Association allows
synthetic food additives and processing aids, including over 500 food
contact substances, to be used in organic foods without public review,
Cummins warns.

Organic flaxseed meal. Organic foods are gaining in popularity year by year.
(Photo courtesy Amazon.com)

Cummins also objects to "loopholes under which non-organic ingredients could
be substituted for organic ingredients without any notification of the
public based on 'emergency decrees.'"

The issue was raised by a court decision in June in favor of an organic
farmer who argued that synthetic ingredients should not be permitted under
the USDA's 100 percent organic label.

In 2002, blueberry farmer Arthur Harvey of Hartford, Maine sued then
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. He asked the court to eliminate
provisions of the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances that
"allow synthetics to be added during processing of organic food."

The National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances is the list of
exceptions to the general requirement that natural materials are allowed and
synthetic materials are prohibited in the processing of organic food. It is
a list of prohibited natural materials, such as arsenic, and allowed
synthetics, such as baking soda.

Harvey argued that there are inconsistencies between the Organic Foods
Production Act, passed as part of the 1990 Farm Bill, and the National
Organic Program standards, implemented in October 2002.

While denying several of Harvey's pleas, U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret
Kravchuk ruled in his favor on the synthetic ingredients issue, but
Secretary Veneman appealed.

Organic spelt flour is the choice of some people with wheat allergies.
(Photo courtesy Amazon.com)

In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit based in Boston
ruled in Harvey's favor on the synthetic ingredients issue.

In June, the U.S. District Court in Portland, Maine ordered the USDA to
create new organic rules within 12 months to replace invalidated rules which
currently allow synthetic ingredients in manufacturing organic-labeled
foods.

The amendment to the Organic Foods Production Act agreed by lawmakers
circumvents that ruling.

The Organic Trade Association (OTA), representing North American businesses
that grow and market organic foods, said the new legislative language was
needed to allow organic food processors to continue to make a living.
But in a September 23 statement, Harvey said, the court ruling "did not
affect commercial availability, it dealt only with the need for NOSB
[National Organic Standards Board] review of the National List."

Harvey accuses the OTA of giving "false information" to its members in a
September 19 phone campaign to drum up support for revision of the law.
Harvey objects to the OTA's statement that the court ruling "effectively
blocked the common use of harmless substances like baking soda, pectin,
ascorbic acid, vitamins and minerals, etc."

"The fact is," Harvey says, "these remain on the National List and were not
affected by my lawsuit, except (possibly) ascorbic acid. Pectin was removed
only in its synthetic form, and remains in its natural form."

The OTA's DiMatteo defended her association's position. "If Congress had not
acted, many of the organic products consumers know and love would have
disappeared. That¹s not good for consumers or the organic farmers and
organic companies that are working hard every day to continue to grow this
industry."

DiMatteo said decisionmaking authority of the National Organic Standards
Board "remains in place."

But the Organic Consumers Association says the amendment was opposed by
consumer, retail and growers groups, as well as public health and
environmental groups, including National Cooperative Grocers Association,
National Organic Coalition and Rural Advancement Foundation International ?
USA, Beyond Pesticides, National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture,
Organic Consumers Association, and Consumers Union.

Organic farmer Phil Foster (left) and a friend inspect leaves of red chard
on Foster's organic farm in San Juan Bautista, California. (Photo by Scott
Bauer courtesy USDA)

"Consumers sent more than 300,000 letters to Congress imploring members to
stand up against industry's efforts to weaken the organic standards," said
Cummins.

The current labeling requirements of the USDA National Organic Standard
includes three levels - a 100 percent organic category for fresh and
processed products, the organic category 95 percent or more organic
ingredients, and the made with organic category, which contains 70 percent
or more organic ingredients.

If the new legislative language had not circumvented the court's ruling, a
company producing a food now labeled 100 percent organic would have had to
change its label if its containers were cleaned with hydrogen peroxide, the
OTA said.

Harvey explains that he began his lawsuit "because USDA was moving steadily
away from organic integrity as envisioned by people who got Congress to
approve OFPA in 1990."

"At present," he said in September, "organic eggs are dipped in bleach
before packaging. Whole chickens are being sealed in plastic bags containing
up to 10 percent by weight of water containing up to 200 ppm of chlorine.
These same chickens have never been outdoors or exposed to direct sunlight."
"As a consumer," he said, "I would not have suspected any of these facts
which I learned as an inspector. USDA may not even know about some of them,
and I cannot report specifics because of confidentiality. At a certain
point, I have to choose between denouncing organic food as a fraud, or try
to change the regulation. I chose the latter."

To view the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances log on to:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NationalList/FinalRule.html
The Organic Trade Association is online at: http://www.ota.com/index.html
The Organic Consumers Association is at: http://www.organicconsumers.org