you want to be healthy don't you?
you don't want to eat things that are bad for you right?
a lot of people are trying to eat more organic and natural foods as part of
their attempts at a healthier lifestyle
but what does it mean for food be called organic or natural?
who decides whether a particular kind of food qualifies?
if you don't know then you're in the dark about the food you're eating every day
the term "organic" is pretty well defined thanks to a 2002 set of standards issued by the USDA
of course USDA was ordered to draft the standards in a 1991 law
these standards require every organic foods farmer or handler
to put together a plan that lists
all of the methods they'll use to grow or handle the food
as well as a description of all of their
management, monitoring, and record-keeping practices
they'll use to be sure that they're actually following the plan
the farmer can't use any synthetic fertilizer or sewage
only compost, raw manure, and certain minerals
in fact neither a farmer nor a food processor can use any non approved
synthetic or artificial substances at any point
when deciding what a synthetic substance is
the USDA considers many things
like the possibility that it will interact badly with other substances
used in organic farming
how toxic the substance is, how long it takes to break down,
and how hard it is to contain or clean up
what its effects are on human health and the environment
that the substance doesn't make the food less nutritious
and that the substance doesn't replace flavors, colors, or textures lost during
processing and how easily
the substance can be replaced by another substance
the USDA could still ban the use of natural substances
if they will harm human health or the environment or it can allow the use of a synthetic substance
in organic farming if there is no
reasonable substitute, human health will not be threatened, and it is not toxic
exemptions are passed for a variety of reasons
some examples of allowed synthetic substances to be used in organic farming
include chlorine materials
as long as they don't contaminate the local water supply
hydrogen peroxide, copper sulfate, sulfur dioxide,
coppers, as long as they don't contaminate the soil, and alcohols
some examples of allowed synthetic substances to be used
as ingredients in organic food include
cyclohexalamine, magnesium chloride,
potassium acid tartrate, tetrosodium pyrophosphate, and bentonite
the farmer can only plant organic seeds
and seedlings, the farmer's only allowed
to manage pests, diseases, and weeds by rotating crops,
cleaning, mowing, or weeding the crop, breeding resistant plants and animals,
introducing another pest or disease that will kill the first one,
mulching, traps, or fire
yes that's right, fire. not only are pesticides prohibited
but to be certified as organic the farmer or handler can't have used them on
that land for the past 3 years
poultry such as chickens must have been managed organically
since the 2nd day of their life
dairy animals must be organically managed 3 years before you can
collect any organic milk from them
breeding animals can be brought onto an organic farm at any time
animals need more than sex though, they need food too
all animal feed must be made entirely of other agricultural products
it may not include hormones, drugs, plastic pellets, manure,
urine, animal slaughter byproducts, which means dead animal parts, or antibiotics
it makes you wonder a little bit why they need to specifically
prohibit someone from feeding the animals plastic or manure though
farmers are required to give grazing animals pasture and grass to eat
to keep animals healthy organic farmers are required to give them clean conditions
which are spacious enough that they can move around and have shade and clean water
organic farmers also have to protect the animals from bad weather
farmers are not allowed to give the animals antibiotics at all
or any other drug within 90 days of milk production but organic farmers are
also not allowed to avoid treating animals so they can count
them as organic and sell them
all these different rules nail down pretty firmly
what counts as organic food
when it comes to calling something natural on the other hand
there's a lot less to go on
government agencies have tried repeatedly to come up with a specific
set of rules about what counts as natural and they have failed every time
the FDA does have a working definition of natural flavors
which basically means that nothing artificial or synthetic
has been added to the flavoring or the food as flavoring
which wouldn't normally be there
it seems like that means natural substances can still be added
the difference between natural and artificial depends on where the flavor
substance comes from and how it is processed
but there is no hard and fast rule to check oompa loompas are probably ok though
the USDA has its own definition for what animal products can be called natural
they can't contain artificial flavors which are defined as any flavor which
doesn't come in some way from plant
or animal material they must also only be minimally processed
which means only traditional processing methods like
roasting, freezing, drying, or smoking
or any other process which doesn't basically alter the product
aside from separating it into component parts
like grinding meat, separating eggs into yolks and whites,
or squeezing the juice from a fruit. these rules do not cover every situation which
means there are some foods which are
labeled as natural that are covered and some situations where the rules
contradict or offer vague guidance, but people make do
and there you have it