All About…
Organic Foods
Judy A. Harrison, Ph.D.
Professor and Extension Foods Specialist
Dept. of Foods and Nutrition
The University of Georgia
Phone: 706-542-3773
E-mail: judyh@uga.edu

Examine facts about organic foods
 Organic statistics
 What organic actually means
 National Organic Program
 Allowable vs. non-allowable substances
 How to tell if a product is organic
 Labeling requirements for organic foods
 To buy or not to buy – that is the question…
Objectives
Increase in sales from $11 billion to over
$30 billion in 2013
 Still account for only about 4% of all food
sales in the U.S.

Grown, produced and processed using
methods that:
 Encourage soil and water conservation
 Reduce pollution
 Improve the environment
What are organic foods?
Crops must be produced:
 Without synthetic, man-made pesticides
 Without synthetic, man-made chemical
fertilizers
 Without bioengineered genes
What are organic foods?
Organic meat, poultry, dairy and eggs must
be produced:
 Without added growth hormones
 Without antibiotics
What are organic foods?
Administered by USDA’s National Organic
Program
 Regulate how foods are grown, handled
and processed
 Organic certification requires verification
by third party audit

The standards
Farmers who sell less than $5,000 of
organic products per year
 do not have to be certified
 but to sell legally
 DO have to follow the NOP standards
 DO have to document that they do so
Exemptions
“Organic” means no chemicals can be used.
True or False?
Answer:
False
The common myth? No chemicals
can be used

NOP
 Reviews all synthetic substances for their use
in organic crop and livestock production
 Identifies even some naturally occurring
substances that are prohibited
 Publishes this information in the National List
of Allowable and Prohibited Substances in the
electronic Code of Federal Regulations
 Part 205
 http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/NOPPetitione
dSubstancesDatabase
National Organic Program

Chlorine compounds such as sodium
hypochlorite in bleach
 Allowable for use as a disinfectant
 In produce production, must rinse surfaces after
sanitizing to reach levels found in drinking water ~
4 parts per million.

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Peracetic acid
Copper sulfate
Hydrogen peroxide
Ethanol
Isopropanol
Example of allowable substances
Important to remember:
• Even these can be toxic at some level
• Just because a chemical is “natural,” does
not mean it is non-toxic or 100% safe
Naturally occurring substances
Arsenic
 Lead salts
 Strychnine

Prohibited natural substances

Look at the label
 On single ingredient foods
 the word “organic”
 On fresh fruits or vegetables
 a small sticker version of the USDA organic seal
 OR a sign above the organic display
How can you tell if a product is
organic?

Look at the label
 On packages of meat, cartons of milk or eggs,
cheese or other single ingredient foods
 The word “organic” may appear
 The organic seal may appear
How can you tell if a product is
organic?
If the label says “100% organic”:
 It can only contain organic ingredients
If the label has the USDA seal:
 The product is certified organic
 95% or more of its ingredients are
organic
What about foods with more than
one ingredient?
If only 70% - 95% of the ingredients are
organic:
 The label can say “made with organic”
 The label can list up to three specific
organic ingredients
What about foods with more than
one ingredient?
For foods with less than 70% organic
ingredients
 These ingredients can only be listed in the
ingredient list
 No claim can be made elsewhere on the
label
What about foods with more than
one ingredient?

Fines of up to $10,000 per violation
What happens if retailers
knowingly sell a product labeled
“organic” that does not meet
these standards?


Many studies
Reviews show a lack of evidence that
organic is more nutritious than
conventional foods
 Nutrient content is affected by soil, growing
conditions, maturity at time of harvest, how
product is stored and handled
 Difficult to compare results
 Each study is a “snapshot” in time with
different conditions
More nutritious?
May reduce exposure to some synthetic,
man-made chemicals, but some are
allowed
 Some natural compounds can be toxic at
certain levels as well
 Any product used in conventional crop,
livestock or food production must be
reviewed and approved for safety prior to
use

Safer?

All milk, organic or conventional:
 Is tested for antibiotics to ensure standards are
met
 Grade A pasteurized milk ordinance requires
that milk contain NO detectable antibiotics
when analyzed using approved methods
What about antibiotics in milk?

If a cow becomes ill:
 Treated with the same antibiotics
 Organic cows will be removed from the organic
herd permanently
 Conventional cows will be removed from the
herd until the milk tests free of antibiotics
 Every truck load is tested
What about antibiotics in milk?
The milk is disposed of and not allowed to
go to market
 Farms can lose their permits to ship milk

What happens if antibiotic
residues are detected in milk?
Hormones are naturally present in:
 Organically produced milk
 Conventionally produced milk
Hormones have sometimes been used
conventionally to increase milk production.
 Use has diminished
 Consumer demands, not safety
Safety has been examined repeatedly over 15
to 20 years
 Has been reaffirmed to be safe
What about hormones in milk?
When milk is tested:
 There is no significant difference in
hormone levels in any milk.
 Our bodies do not have the receptors to
absorb bovine growth hormone.
What about hormones in milk?
Examine cartons of milk in stores
 Even many non-organic brands state that
their farmers pledge not to use growth
hormones.

READ THE LABEL!
“I can’t afford organic milk.”
All living animals have hormones in their
bodies
 All meat and poultry will contain
hormones
 Synthetic hormones are restricted for use
in organic livestock production and from
use in conventional poultry and pork
production
 Safety is evaluated prior to approval for
use and residues are monitored in beef

Are organic poultry and meat free
from hormones?
For consumers:
Buying organic is a personal choice
 Must decide if it fits their budget

Do I have to buy organic food to
have a safe and nutritious diet?
USDA Agriculture Marketing Service
 maintains a list at:
http://apps.ams.usda.gov/nop/
 Searchable by operation name, state and
crops or livestock grown
Is there a list of certified organic
operations?
All About…
Organic Foods
Judy A. Harrison, Ph. D., Professor and Extension Foods Specialist
Dept. of Foods and Nutrition
College of Family and Consumer Sciences
University of Georgia.
2015
The University of Georgia and Ft. Valley State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and counties of
the state cooperating. Cooperative Extension, the University of Georgia Colleges of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences and Family and Consumer Sciences, offers educational programs, assistance and
materials to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, age, gender or disability.
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