What Do All the Organic Labels Mean?

What about all the labels on organic food? Have you noticed them? Have you noticed that some organic foods are called "organic," while others are called "100% organic," and still others have organic ingredients listed, but the product itself isn't labeled as organic?

Why is that?

It's pretty simple once you break it down. There are four "categories" of organic to give shoppers as much information as possible about the food they're buying, especially when it comes to manufactured or processed foods like apple sauce, cereal or canned soups.

1) 100% Organic

With 100%, what you see is what you get. This is the strictest category of the USDA's organic program, upholding the long-held "spirit of organics." Very few additives, no matter how safe, can be used in 100% organic products. Lots of "100%" items aren't labeled as such, like fruits or vegetables, because they are "whole foods," that is, they contain one ingredient only. (The farmer hopes you've figured out her organic oranges are 100% organic!)

When to Look for this Label. When you're buying ingredients for home-cooked meals.

We wish more organic manufacturers would take the plunge and create more foods in the 100% category. Our long-time organic shoppers value this category for its integrity and for its faithfulness to the foundations of the organic food movement. Simple, wholesome food should not require a degree in chemistry to understand a al!

2) Organic

The vast majority of organic foods at the Wedge fall in this category, that is, "organic," foods containing 95-99% organic ingredients. You can find foods in this category because they're clearly labeled "organic," or they have the USDA organic symbol on their packaging.

When to Be Wary of this Label. As a word to the wise who may be seeking "pure" food, the USDA continues to add long lists of processing aids that may be used in this category - flavorings, natural preservatives, and the like. Largely harmless, yes, but they aren't listed on the packaging, which is a disservice to the organic shopper by not allowing him to discern between a company that doesn't use such processing aids and one that does. As a rule of thumb, though, the smaller the company in question, the less likely they even need to use processing aids.

That said, this category does tell you something very important: At least 95% of the ingredients in this product came from a certified organic farm, orchard, or ranch. Because "100% organic" is such a strict set of standards to meet, it's unlikely that it could have ever encouraged the boom in organics that we've seen in recent years. More acreage has been devoted to organic farming across the nation and planet because of the "95%" category - and that's a true, solid victory for the environment.

TIP: Ask Wedge staff about individual companies if you ever have any questions about their practices.

3) "Made with" Organic Ingredients

Products can use this label if they contain 70 - 94% organic ingredients. It's sort of the "almost organic" category, but companies still have to be certified organic to use it, just like the above two categories.

When to Look for this Label. This label helps you find companies that are at least making the effort to include some organic ingredients.

4) Organic Ingredients Listed

Foods containing below 70% total organic ingredients can have their organic ingredients listed on the packaging, but the main face of the packaging can't make an organic claim. In other words, if you have bread that's 50% total organic ingredients, you can't call it "Organic Bread." You can only list the organic ingredients on the side panel. That's a good rule - we wouldn't want products that are less than half organic calling themselves organic.

So that's the story. We hope this will help you navigate the world of organic food with a little more confidence. And never hesitate to ask our staff your questions about any product we sell. We are happy to tell you the whole story!