Organic vs. All Natural

[airram479]

I am pretty sure organic means(in my humble opinion)that throughout the entire process it(the food,etc.) was basically watched under a microscope,and then tested for quality,right...so why all these other product's in other stores saying"All Natural". To me(in my humble opinion again) These are both the same fricking thing,yeah..So is the Organic thing a sham or the"All Natural"thing a sham,or both...You guy's see where i am going with this.How do you know it is really Organic or "All Natural".

Man i have been up way to long today.:dead:

 

[BodyWizard]

Actually, 'organic' doesn't mean that at all: it has to do with pesticides & fertilizers, and yes, there's testing & certification - but no national standard I'm aware of. One of the non-obvious bits is that if there's chemical fertilizers & pesticides in the soil from previous crops, the current crop can't be certified as organic.

"All-natural" is kinda 'organic lite' for marketers (nudge-nudge): not organic at all, in other words, just less-/differently-processed or substitute ingredients - like whole wheat flour for white flour, hi-fructose corn syrup instead of sugar, coarse-ground peanut-butter instead of smooth.

In some cases these alternate ingredients may have an impact on the healthiness of the product, but that's not why they're there: they are included to increase sales.

 

[Jayhawkk]

Here ya go...

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/organic-food1.htm

*In D*ecember 2000, the National Organic Standards Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) established a national standard for the term "organic." Organic food, defined by how it cannot be made rather than how it can be made, must be produced without the use of sewer-sludge fertilizers, most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetic engineering (biotechnology), growth hormones, irradiation and antibiotics. A variety of agricultural products can be produced organically, including produce, grains, meat, dairy, eggs, and processed food products.



"Organic" does not mean "natural." There is no legal definition as to what constitutes a "natural" food. However, the food industry uses the term "natural" to indicate that a food has been minimally processed and is preservative-free. Natural foods can include organic foods, but not all natural foods are organic. Only foods labeled "organic" have been certified as meeting USDA organic standards.

 

[WittyName]

I have a friend who raises cattle and chickens. No hormones and her schickens are cage-free vegetarian feed. She wanted to get them stamped USDA Organic. Her products met all the requirements but she could not afford the stamp.
She explained to me this is why alot of smaller companies use the all-natural label as opposed to the USDA stamp. Hope this helps for what its worth.

 

[Jayhawkk]

I wonder what kind of cost she was referring to? I don't believe the actual certification is all that expensive versus the total cost of getting everything to standard. it also looks like some of the cost can be recovered... Have no real clue though, other than the little i've read this morning.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateQ&navID=OrganicCostShareProgramNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&rightNav1=OrganicCostShareProgramNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&topNav=&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOPCostSharing&resultType=&acct=nopgeninfo

 

[EasyEJL]

From what i understand, animals can't be "organic"

hmm i'm wrong

 

[WittyName]

I wonder what kind of cost she was referring to? I don't believe the actual certification is all that expensive versus the total cost of getting everything to standard. it also looks like some of the cost can be recovered... Have no real clue though, other than the little i've read this morning.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateQ&navID=OrganicCostShareProgramNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&rightNav1=OrganicCostShareProgramNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&topNav=&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOPCostSharing&resultType=&acct=nopgeninfo

I am going to mention this to her. Thanks for the link.

 

[airram479]

I am just starting to think that the whole all natural thing is something that makes us feel comfortable when we are buying our food. Like,"Oh it's all natural so it's better" when really it could just be the same as every other thing in the store,just some catchy labeling and marketing tactics to get you too buy and pay more for something that isn't really what you think it is.