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@videotron.ca

Question to urbanriot

Anon

to urbanriot

Re: Organic Food.. not as safe?

said by urbanriot:

2) It's concerning the American "Organic" label which isn't the same as the Canadian "Organic" label. Ours is stricter.

Some good points. More can be made...

Does anyone know the differences between the US, Canada and maybe Mexico when it comes to organic foods in North America? Anyone have a link maybe outlining the differences?

urbanriot
Premium Member
join:2004-10-18
Canada

urbanriot

Premium Member

said by Question :

Does anyone know the differences between the US, Canada and maybe Mexico when it comes to organic foods in North America? Anyone have a link maybe outlining the differences?

There's the word 'organic' and there's the Organic certifications and it's important to distinguish the two.

In USA, for example, "USDA Organic" is the same as "Canada Organic", which requires at least 95% of organic ingredients.

However the word "organic" is used on some American foods which have a smaller percentage of true organic components and there's other certifying boards (many of which are on probation) with more stringent standards.

There's more official Canadian information here, on what's required by whatever Government of Canada rules apply - »canadagazette.gc.ca/arch ··· eng.html (from 2006, not sure if its been updated since).

Some main points (from CBC.ca article):
quote:
If a producer wants to use the Canada Organic logo on their product or if a producer wants to sell a product labelled organic somewhere other than the province in which it was produced, that producer is subject to the following rules under the Organic Products Regulations:

- Only products with at least 95% organic content may be labelled as "organic" or bear the "organic" logo. These products must be certified and the name of the certification body must appear on the label.

- Multi-ingredient products with 70-95 per cent organic content may have the declaration: "contains xx% organic ingredients." These products may not use the organic logo and/or the claim to be "organic." These products must be certified and the name of the certification body must appear on the label.

- Multi-ingredient products with less than 70 per cent "organic" content may only contain organic claims in the product's ingredient list. These products do not require certification and may not use the "organic" logo. However, the organic ingredients contained within these products must be certified.

Use of the Canada Organic label is voluntary, so not all products that have been certified organic have the label, but all products traded interprovincially must have the name of the certifying body on their packaging. If products are not packaged, such as at a farmers market or farm store, the certificate from the certifying body should be displayed at the point of sale.
Article I copied this from is here, from December 2011 - »www.cbc.ca/news/canada/s ··· faq.html

So it seems there are some governmental rules at play here, for both countries, in certifying foods and using certain logos. It seems the two more legitimate stamps are from "Canada Organic" or "USDA Organic".