| "Organic" has some quite specific legal | | | | latest Organic Food articles and research at |
| definitions in most developed countries.In | | | | general food grown free of pesticides, |
| the U.S, all farms or products claiming to be | | | | herbicides and genetically modified organisms |
| "certified organic" must be guaranteed by a | | | | (GMO) is organic to some extent. Certified |
| USDA-approved independent agency to be | | | | organic food is that which meets the strict |
| meeting the following guidelines:* Sound | | | | criteria of the USDA as described above. Most |
| records kept of all operations* No use of | | | | countries have their own version of |
| antibiotics or hormones in livestock* No use | | | | regulation.Organic food can be classified |
| of genetically modified organisms* No | | | | into two groups, fresh and processed.There |
| irradiation* Use sound soil conservation and | | | | are many additional requirements for |
| crop rotation practice* And most importantly, | | | | certification of processed organic food:* |
| that there has been no useage of prohibited | | | | contains a minimum percentage of organic |
| materials within 3 years prior to | | | | ingredients.* has no added artificial |
| certification, or at any time during | | | | ingredients like preservatives etc.* is |
| certification.The USDA defines 'prohibited | | | | processed free of artificial methods like |
| materials' as synthetic fertilizers, | | | | chemical ripening or irradiation.Most |
| pesticides and sewage sludge. It is also a | | | | processed organic food is now available in |
| requirement that there is no | | | | supermarkets. There are also organic only |
| cross-contamination during processing, which | | | | stores in most large cities now, and there |
| means organic wheat for example cannot be | | | | will be many more similar stores as the |
| ground in a flour factory that also handles | | | | production of certified organic food |
| non-organic material.Produce grown | | | | increases.Jeremy is the owner of and |
| organically certainly tastes better than the | | | | publisher of the Organic News blog. Go to for |
| usual supermarket stock. It also contains | | | | all the latest organic food articles and |
| higher levels of nutrients and far lower | | | | news. |
| residual pesticides. You can read all the | | | | |