How would a product be considered organic?

What percentage of ingredients in a product has to be organic for the product to be considered organic?

• Answer:

  In the US, the Organic Food Production Act 1990 regulates organics. To have the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) seal on a product, the product must be certified organic and contain at least 95% organically produced ingredients. There are two categories of labeling that are permitted to use the USDA seal. These are, 1. 100% certified organic ingredients. These producers may identify 100% organic ingredients on front label. 2. 95% or more certified organic ingredients. These producers may identify "organic" on front label. These (above two) are the only conditions where the USDA seal may be used. You may see two additional categories of organic labeling. 3. Containing 70% or greater of organically produced ingredients can be labeled on the front of the package saying "made with organic (whatever it is)". An example of this would be cereal with organic blueberries. In this example the label may say "made with organic blueberries". No seal is permitted. 4. Containing less than 70% organic ingredients may make no front panel claims. However, can list the organic ingredient as such on the side panel. For example, pasta sauce may say "organic parsley" in the list of ingredients. No seal is permitted. In Canada the Organic Products Regulations has a phasing in period for organic labeling which ends in December 2008. This would require 95% organic ingredients and organic certification to have the Canadian Organic logo on the package.