While buying fruits and vegetable from big mall or your local grocery store can you get to know the food product you are buying is natural or organic? These days everybody wants healthy natural nutritious food.
Organic food is the food that is not grown without the use of conventional pesticides artificial fertilizers or Sewage sludge. Organic products protect us from toxic and chemical induced diseases while nourishing our bodies to promote good health.
If a product you purchased is labeled as ‘Natural‘ doesn’t mean that it is purely fresh or minimally processed. According to Jessica Walden, a technical specialist at Quality Assurance International (QAI), an organization that has been certifying organic farms, processors, distributors and retailers since 1989 says,
Just because the label says the product is natural doesn’t mean it’s organic.
What do you understand by terms Natural and Organic?
According to definition of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “natural” is something which has been minimally processed or is free from synthetic ingredients.
In the U.S organic product should follow USDA standards.
According to National Organic Program (NOP) of USDA organic food should be free from conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or bioengineering. There are some regulations specified by NOP are given below:
The land which is used to raise organic crops should be free from prohibited chemicals for at least three years.
The farmers of organic food should go for yearly inspection farmlands by a USDA-approved certifier.
Organic growers must keep detailed written production and sales records.
Processed organic products must be produced in a certified facility.
If a retail product is labeled 100 percent organic, it will show an ingredients list if not a single-ingredient item, the name and address of the handler.
To be labeled “organic,” the product must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients.
Sustainable Organic Agriculture is already feeding people around the world. So Go Organic and show that you care.
