"organic certification" news and stories

After a recent exposé, of sorts, that took a very close look over whether the organic label could be trusted, the USDA has finally taken action against an organic certifier that was not performing to the standards that consumers expect. It revoked the accreditation of the American Food Safety Institute International in Wisconsin for multiple violations of the National Organic Program's (NOP) policies. The violations include:

• "Providing certification services to operations to which American Food Safety's president, Karl Kolb, currently provides consulting services.
• Failing to provide a full disclosure of conflicts of interest in its application for accreditation.
• Issuing an organic certification to an operation that used seeds that had been treated with prohibited substances.
• Failing to issue notices of noncompliance and proposed revocation or suspension to a company that had violated NOP regulations."

All of the farms and businesses that were certified by the American Food Safety, which did not appeal on the grounds that "the work didn't fit its business model," must find other certifying agents.

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In an investigation done by the Dallas Morning News (DMN), it was discovered that the USDA does not always enforce its organic standards, or at least, they have taken no action against people who violate the standards except to ask a few products to remove the label. There have been no fines or legal action taken against scofflaws, which ultimately hurts the many organic farmers who passionately support their choice to produce organic goods and often go far above and beyond the industry standards.

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