USDA issues final organic rules - Brief Article

Consumer Alert sharply criticized the U.S. Agriculture Department's new rules governing the production, certification, and labeling of organic foods, which were announced December 20. "This one-size-fits-all mandate from the USDA will severely restrict consumer choice," said CA's Executive Director Frances B. Smith, in a statement responding to the rule. Other concerns about the USDA dictat: the rules may mislead some consumers and may violate First Amendment rights.

What is or is not "organic" is essentially a value-based concept. One consumer's concept of `organic' could significantly differ from that of the person just across the produce aisle. With different certification systems, consumers could individually choose which system best suits their tastes and values. But the USDA with its action has now presumed to decide for them.

Since what is "organic" relates more to people's values than to issues of food safety or health, USDA's decision essentially is one legislating morality. Certification and labeling are better handled by private markets dictated by consumer choice rather than by government mandates dictated by bureaucrats and special interests. Right now there are numerous private- and state-accredited organic certification authorities, which use different standards -- a response to the differing needs and values of the consumers of organic foods.

Consumer Alert also noted that by stamping certain foods with a government label, USDA could mislead consumers. Food with the imprimatur of `USDA Organic' could give the impression that the government has declared these foods purer or safer than other foods, when it has not, and when there is no scientific evidence warranting they do so in the first place. In fact, two of the procedures specifically banned under the USDA's centralized organic regime -- biotechnology and irradiation -- can make food safer by, respectively, reducing the use of pesticides (even `natural' ones) and killing dangerous food-borne pathogens.

In addition, the USDA's action barring alternative label certification impedes the free flow of information between organic farmers and organic consumers and, on its face, violates the free-speech provisions of the First Amendment.

Consumer Alert will continue to keep abreast of developments in organic food regulations and food labeling. For the latest in food policy news, see the National Consumer Coalition's Foodstuff page at www.foodstuff.org.

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