The Agriculture Department on Thursday issued new requirements for foods labeled organic, a move aimed at cracking down on fraud and boosting oversight.
The rule strengthens enforcement of the USDA’s strict definitions of organic, which must rely on “natural substances and physical, mechanical or biologically based farming methods to the fullest extent possible.”
The rule requires USDA’s National Organic Program certification for all imported organic food, increases certifications of more businesses in the supply chain and boosts authority for inspections, record-keeping, traceability and fraud prevention practices.
The Organic Trade Association, which lobbied for rule, said it represents the biggest change to organic regulations since the creation of the USDA organic food program.
OTA officials said in a statement the regulation “will do much to deter and detect organic fraud and protect organic integrity throughout the supply chain.”
Sales of organic foods in the U.S. topped $63 billion in 2021, according to OTA, with consumers willing to pay top dollar for products free of pesticides and other contaminants.
Fresh produce, grains and other foods are vulnerable to fraud. This month, Department of Justice officials issued indictments in a multimillion-dollar scheme to export non-organic grain to the U.S., to be sold as a certified organic product.
The new rule takes effect in March and companies will have a year to comply with the requirements.
(AP)
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3 Responses
This is ridiculous. There is no evidence whatsoever that “organic” food is any better for you than “inorganic” food. People who are willing to pay more for “organic” are simply fools, and a fool and his money are soon parted; I don’t see it as a legitimate function of the government to prevent that.
Snake oil is snake oil, and if it turns out that it doesn’t even come from a real snake, so what? Who is harmed by such fraud? The fake snake oil is just as effective as the real stuff, so the government should spend its time and money on better things.
It is irrelevant if “organic” is “good for you”, just as it is irrelevant if “kosher” or “hallal” is good for you. The problem is that “organic” is subject to debate, and in some cases the pro-organic community deliberates rejects science (e.g. differentiating between organisms that have been genetically modified without high-tech (wheat, corn, cows, chickens, turkeys) and those modified with modern high-tech means.
A better solution would be for private, non-state bodies, to certify something as “organic” and to put a trademarked symbol on the package (the solution done with kosher food), rather than ask Joe Biden or Donald Trump to decide what is truely “organic”.
It’s completely relevant whether “organic” is good for you, because the only reason anyone cares about it is their superstitious belief that it is good for them. If people understood that there is no science behind this, the whole market for it would collapse. Therefore it is a waste of time and resources for the government to police the industry and distinguish real snake oil from fake snake oil. None of it is any use, so let people buy whichever one they like.