About Organic Foods
- Are organic foods worth purchasing?
- When the USDA certifies a food as “organic” is it actually guaranteeing something about the food?
- Why did we need regulation of organic foods?
- Is there additional information about organics on your website?
Consumers in the U.S. are likely to get safer, higher-quality food by purchasing USDA-certified organic products or those certified by state organic agencies. One reasonable exception: locally grown food produced using sustainable agriculture practices, even without formal organic certification.
USDA organic certification guarantees that food was produced through approved methods designed to improve food quality and reduce environmental harm. The certification specifically prohibits sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering. Certified organic food remains one of the few reliable ways for U.S. consumers to verify the absence of these practices.
Beyond those three prohibitions, USDA organic standards also disallow:
- Most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
- Growth hormones
- Antibiotics
- Many synthetic additives
A complete list of prohibited substances appears in The National List article.
The legal framework for organic certification originated in Title 21 of the 1990 Farm Bill, which instructed the USDA to create a national legal definition of “organic” with reliable, uniform, enforceable standards. The goal was a labeling process consumers could trust to reflect high-quality production practices.
For more on organics, see:
- Everything You Need to Know About Organic Foods
- U.S. Organic Foods Production Act (Subparts A-E)
- U.S. Organic Foods Production Act (Subparts F-G)
- The National List
- Organic Foods, Hormones and Antibiotics
Topics
[
Are organic foods worth purchasing?
](#MUSTKNOWSORG1)[
When the USDA certifies a food as “organic” is it actually guaranteeing something about the food?
](#MUSTKNOWSORG2)[
Why did we need regulation of organic foods?
](#MUSTKNOWSORG3)[
Is there additional information about organics on your website?
](#MUSTKNOWSORG4)
Discussion
Are organic foods worth purchasing?
Consumers in the U.S. are likely to get safer, higher-quality food by purchasing USDA-certified organic products or those certified by state organic agencies. One reasonable exception: locally grown food produced using sustainable agriculture practices, even without formal organic certification.
When the USDA certifies a food as “organic” is it actually guaranteeing something about the food?
USDA organic certification guarantees that food was produced through approved methods designed to improve food quality and reduce environmental harm. The certification specifically prohibits sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering. Certified organic food remains one of the few reliable ways for U.S. consumers to verify the absence of these practices.
Beyond those three prohibitions, USDA organic standards also disallow:
- Most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
- Growth hormones
- Antibiotics
- Many synthetic additives
A complete list of prohibited substances appears in The National List article.
Why did we need regulation of organic foods?
The legal framework for organic certification originated in Title 21 of the 1990 Farm Bill, which instructed the USDA to create a national legal definition of “organic” with reliable, uniform, enforceable standards. The goal was a labeling process consumers could trust to reflect high-quality production practices.
Is there additional information about organics on your website?
For more on organics, see:
- Everything You Need to Know About Organic Foods
- U.S. Organic Foods Production Act (Subparts A-E)
- U.S. Organic Foods Production Act (Subparts F-G)
- The National List
- Organic Foods, Hormones and Antibiotics