In recent years, there has been a lot of hype about going organic or natural, sadly though, a lot of people has fallen prey over this marketing propaganda. Don’t get us wrong, we do promote and advocate natural products, however, the sad reality is that most products we see on store shelves which are marketed as natural or organic does not really live up to what it truly is.
So, what exactly is organic or natural product?
In a nutshell an organic product is one that is produced using materials that are organically grown and complies with the standards of organic farming. These include restrictions in the use of certain chemicals and fertilizers in addition to restrictions in terms of processing and using non-organic additives.
In most countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and many others an organic certification is required before any product can be marketed as “organic”. These certifications are obtained from the USDA NOP or European Commission after a rigorous application and qualification process. In addition to the costs incurred by the manufacturers to obtain certification, there is a relatively higher agricultural and production costs involved in the manufacture of such products, making these certified organic products a bit more costly.
All Natural vs Natural
On the Flipside, “Natural” or “All Natural” can have its gray area, In general, natural products are assumed to be minimally processed, while there are no set regulations in place at the moment the “FDA considers the term "natural" to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to the product” and therefore non-synthetic natural.
So consumers should be well aware of what they are indeed getting. In essence, “plant-derived” may not mean the same as “All Natural”, in the same way that “botanical”, or “vegan” does not necessarily mean natural and ”Natural” can either be 20% , 50%, 80% or 100% depending on what percentage of natural and synthetic additives are in the finished product. Most often we are actually purchasing the same conventional products which we desperately want to ditch in an effort to go natural.
It is for this very reason, that we scrutinize each product that makes it to our inventory. In the case of our Organic Products we require our suppliers and manufacturers with valid USDA Organic certification, while our “All Natural” products mean exactly what it says. At Living Origins you can be assured that you are getting precisely what the label says.
Comments