USDA Reverses Itself on Organic Seals 

LIBBY QUAID / AP 24aug2005

WASHINGTON — The government is reversing its decision to yank the "USDA Organic" seal from lotions and lip balms and will now allow cosmetics to carry the round, green label.

Mindfully.org note: From the start, the USDA label was a push by mega-agribusiness to take over the remaining small farms and to completely dominate the burgeoning organic food industry by making its highly toxic and unsustainable form of food production approved by the USDA. "General Mills owns the organic brands Cascadian Farms and Muir Glenn. Heinz holds a 20 percent equity share in food distributor Hain, which owns Rice Dream soy milk, Garden of Eatin', Celestial Seasonings, Earth's Best, and Health Valley, along with 15 other organic brands. Kellogg owns Sunrise Organic, while Kraft owns Boca Foods, maker of the popular vegetarian Boca Burgers. The largest organic seed company, Seeds of Change, is controlled by M&M/Mars. Your morning Odwalla is now brought to you by Coca-Cola." "The large conventional food processors aren't entering the organic market simply because they think it's a nice thing to do. They are buying up organic enterprises because it's smart business. Although organics represent just a sliver of all food spending in the U.S.—about two percent of the market—organics are the only sector of the food industry experiencing sustained growth." —  The Green Machine - The Monthly 1oct04

An organic soap company and a consumer group had sued the Agriculture Department for ordering removal of the distinctive seal.

Without the government seal, the word organic is "just a fluff marketing claim," David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, said Wednesday.

"It's kind of a truth in advertising thing — consumers can trust that it is indeed free of synthetics and does support organic farming and agriculture," said Bronner, whose company and the Organic Consumers Association had sued the department in June.

The department created the label three years ago for food and other products grown without pesticides or fertilizer and made with all-natural, chemical-free ingredients. It applies to meat and dairy products from animals given organic feed and access to the outdoors and never given antibiotics or growth hormones.

Department officials decided in April they didn't have the authority to regulate cosmetics and ordered companies to remove the USDA seal. Late Tuesday, one day before a deadline to respond to the lawsuit, the department issued a memo reversing its decision.

Barbara Robinson, head of the department's National Organic Program, said officials have struggled over the issue, particularly because the program is still new.

"We're USDA. We're looking at it from an agricultural perspective — we do agricultural products here. We do food," Robinson said in an interview. "We don't do cosmetics here. We're not lipstick. We're not mouthwash. We're not lawn care products. It takes a while to sit down and look at this and say, all right, how do we make this work?"

In the end, officials determined that it doesn't matter what type of product is labeled, as long as it follows the rules. In other words, Robinson said, "What difference does it make if you brush your teeth with it or eat it?"

The reversal also allows dietary supplements and pet food to carry the organic seal. The department is in the process of creating organic standards for fish.

The decision to remove the seal from cosmetics had frustrated companies that, like Bronner's, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to find all-organic ingredients and get certified to use the seal. Only products cleared by government-authorized agents can use the seal.

Legal liability was also at stake: Some organic cosmetic companies have been sued for deceptive labeling because they bore the claim.

Now it should be clear that, "just like food, the federal standards pre-empt any state laws, and if you meet federal standards, the product is organic," said William J. Friedman, an attorney defending the companies in state courts.

Bronner and the consumer group expect to drop the lawsuit against the department pending settlement talks over the next month, said attorney Joe Sandler, who is representing Bronner and the consumer group.

The department still must comply with a federal court ruling this year in another lawsuit, filed by organic blueberry farmer Arthur Harvey in Maine, and draw up new rules on whether small amounts of non-organic or synthetic substances can go into organic food. The new rules will also govern feed for dairy cows.

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082400897.html 26aug2005

USDA Allows Organic Claims on Cosmetics

DAVID LIU, Ph.D. / FoodConsumer.org

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reversing its previous decision to disallow use of its organic seal on cosmetics such as lotions and lip balms, according to the Associated Press.

Cosmetics companies have followed the food industry in using organic ingredients to make organic cosmetic products and using the USDA's organic seal.

The USDA said in April that it does not have the authority to regulate cosmetics in light of organic claims. Accordingly, the government agency told companies to stop using the "USDA organic" seal.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and Organic Consumers Association sued the USDA in June so they could keep using the USDA organic seal.

Calling products organic often times refers to produce, processed foods, dairy and meats. Use of synthetic pesticides, hormone, and antibiotics are not allowed in growing plant foods or animals that are going to be marketed as organic.

The USDA's National Organic Program sent out a memorandum Tuesday to certifying organizations and tell them that cosmetics and personal care products can carry the USDA organic seal as long as the ingredients used for the products meet the organic standards.

The USDA is considering organic standards for fish and pet foods, but dietary supplements are not under consideration for now, according to the Associated Press.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit against the USDA is considering withdrawing its case now that the USDA is allowing the cosmetics to be claimed organic.