How to tell if something is Organic and, perhaps more importantly, if you care?
Welcome back to the expose that is our Organic Food Investigation.
Last week we looked at what makes something Organic and this week we are going to discuss Organic in more detail. Brace yourself; this could get hairy, organically hairy.
Not only do regulatory types make it incredibly complicated to classify if something is organic or not, it turns out organic food can be divided into different categories. Told you this was going to get hairy.
Three Categories of Organic
1. 100% Organic: Made with 100% organic ingredients (and Hippie kisses).
2. Organic: Made with at least 95% organic ingredients.
3. Made with Organic Ingredients: Made with a minimum of 70% organic ingredients with strict restrictions on the remaining 30%, including no genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Companies that make products with less than 70% organic ingredients may list organically produced ingredients on the side panel of the package, however they may not make any organic claims on the front of the package.
Organic Sounds Good, Where’s the Catch?
As usual, there is a drawback to the organic benefit; namely the expense.
Organic food is not cheap, due to the strict preparation and monitoring requirements.
However when you consider recent diet and lifestyle stats which indicate that people are getting progressively sicker and more prone to illness and disease every year and the link to nutrition standards plummeting, it begs the question:
How much is our health worth to us?
What’s about “Natural” products?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA have no laws regulating the use of the term “Natural” on food labels. Any guidelines for natural foods are established on a company-by-company basis without any third-party regulation, government clipboards or regulatory checklist.
At the end of the day, the organic vs natural vs artificial debate comes down to how much you value your health and wellbeing plus how much you can afford to spend. Recent diet and health stats which indicate people are getting progressively sicker and more prone to illness and disease every year, makes me feel it may be one investment worth making.
Author’s Note:
There are a great many other factors to consider when discussing organic and natural foods for example with meats, how was the animal fed and reared? There are a lot of terms flying around these days in the world of healthy living. But with a little explanation, it isn’t difficult to understand and incorporate these things into our everyday life. So stay tuned, there’s more good stuff to come.
Do you have any experience with eating or preparing Organic or Natural Food? Share your insights with us; be great to hear from you.
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