Labeling
How do you recognize / identify an organic product?
- It is by its label or certificate, which is obtained through organic certification.
- The certification indicates that the products have met the requirements set by the certification body.
- These requirements involve a set of production standards for growing, processing, packaging and shipping. Every country has its own organic certification standard, where products must be grown and manufactured in a manner that complies with the standards set by the countries they are sold in.
Certified organic products are those which have been produced, stored, processed, handled and marketed in accordance with organic standards and certified as “organic” by a certification body.
- Once conformity with organic standards has been verified by a certification body, the product is afforded a label.
- This label will differ depending on the certification body but can be taken as an assurance that the essential elements constituting an “organic” product have been met from the farm to the market.
- It is important to note that an organic label applies to the production process, ensuring that the product has been produced and processed in an ecologically sound manner. The organic label is therefore a production process claim as opposed to a product quality claim.
