- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
American
shoppers will soon find a USDA label on organic fruits,
vegetables and
meats produced without pesticides or hormones, the
Clinton administration
said on Wednesday as it rolled out new rules on
organic food.
-
- The organic standards had been eagerly sought by U.S.
food
companies, environmentalists and some lawmakers to help guide consumers
seeking alternatives to genetically modified crops and hormone-injected
livestock.
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- ``This is the strongest and most comprehensive organic
standard
in the world,'' U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said at
a news
conference held outside a natural foods grocery store in the nation's
capital.
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- Under the new national standard, foods labeled ``organic''
cannot include bioengineered ingredients or be irradiated to kill bacteria
and lengthen shelf life. Meats sold as organic cannot be produced from
animals that receive antibiotics.
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- Consumers will be able to
recognize organic products
by a USDA mark they will carry, similar to
the ``USDA Prime'' identification
on beef or the grade labels on egg
cartons.
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- Foods will be labeled ``100 percent organic,'' ``organic''
or
''made with organic ingredients,'' depending on ingredients.
-
- Products labeled
``organic'' must consist of at least
95 percent organically produced
ingredients. Foods ``made with organic
ingredients'' must contain at
least 70 percent organic ingredients. Food
manufacturers will be
allowed to label their products' exact percentage
of organic content,
the USDA said.
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- ``The idea here is that the ability to boast a specific
number
will encourage more folks to use organic ingredients,'' Glickman
said.
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- Processed products that contain less than 70 percent
ingredients cannot use the term organic anywhere on the principal display
panel, the USDA said.
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- The label ``organic'' had previously fallen under a
hodgepodge
of state, regional and private certifier standards, giving
rise to confusion
about its meaning.
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- Industry: Organic
Does Not Mean Safer Food
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- The food industry praised the
standard, but said consumers
need to know organic does not necessarily
mean safer food.
-
- ``It must be made clear that the organic label on certain
foodsdoes not mean that they are safer or more nutritious than conventional
food
products,'' said Kelly Johnston, executive vice president for the
National Food Processors Association.
-
- Glickman said the organic label
was a marketing tool
and was not a statement about food safety,
nutrition or quality.
-
- ``USDA is not in the business of choosing sides, of
stating
preferences for one kind of food, one set of ingredients or one
means of
production over any other,'' Glickman said.
-
- Many big U.S.
foodmakers have product lines catering
to the growing interest in
organic foods.
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- The U.S. organic industry sold more than $6 billion of
products, from food to clothing, in 1999. The USDA estimates organic sales
will increase by another 20 percent this year.
-
- Katherine DiMatteo, executive
director of the Organic
Trade Association, said the new federal
standards would help growers and
retailers as well as
consumers.
-
- ``I think this federal rule will help improve the market
for
the number of organic products available to consumers,'' DiMatteo
said.
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- The
final rule becomes effective 60 days after its publication
in the
Federal Register on Thursday. USDA officials said the national organic
standard will be fully implemented around August 2002.
-
- Ten Years In The
Making
-
- Congress ordered USDA to develop uniform organic
standards
more than a decade ago, but the department did not swing into
action until
two years ago when it proposed a set of rules.
-
- That triggered
hundreds of thousands of letters, faxes
and e-mails from consumers who
wanted to ensure the USDA rules would not
allow foods labeled as
organic to be genetically modified or fertilized
by sewage recycled by
waste plants.
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- The new U.S. organic standard is seen as setting a benchmark
for the rest of the world. Australia, the European Union and the United
States are the largest organic producers.
-
- ``The rule will assist organic
producers who want to
export their products and will ensure that
imported organic agricultural
commodities meet standards on par with
those of the United States,'' said
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont
Democrat.
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- There are currently 12,000 organic farmers in the United
States
and that number is rising by 12 percent each year, while other sectors
of farming are seeing a decline in producers.
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