Get useful tips on how to ensure you are buying organic products. Learn about the labels you need to look for and save time making the good choices.
As a follow-up to our post about the importance of eating organic food, this article will provide you useful tips and tricks on how to choose the right organic products.
When we think about organic food, we often refer to vegetables and fruits that are grown with fewer pesticides and harmful fertilizers, or animal breeding without antibiotics, hormones and drugs. And that’s totally… correct.
For the producers it’s very expensive to obtain the organic certification, that’s why some of them try to “cheat” the customers, meaning us… selling products that are not organic, so before you go shopping here are some tips:
The most important is to read the labels: All the organic products have the certified organic label (below). If a product has the organic seal on it, this means that the product is made with 95% to 100% organic ingredients. If a product contains less than 95% organic ingredients, then the product will not have the seal. Be aware that some producers will try to trick consumers by placing fake logos, so if you do not see it clear better not to buy them.
In USA they use bar codes to identify the organic products. There are five numbers in the code, if the number starts with 9, this tells you that the product was grown organically and is not a GMO (genetically modified). If it starts with 8 it indicates you that is organic but its GMO. If the bar code only have 4 numbers it means that the product is conventional using pesticides.
Be aware that “green washing” happens often: What does it mean? It is when some producers try to use eco friendly or organic traits to sell you some products (mostly with shampoo, soap and lipgloss) or they use the word “natural” which does not mean the product is organic
If you do not see these labels below, then the product is likely not to be organic.
SEE SOME OF THE ORGANIC LABELS USED IN EUROPE AND USA BELOW:
Below you can find the requirements for producers to obtain an organic label:
1) The product contains at least 95% organic ingredients. The remaining 5% of ingredients can be non-organic according to the European regulations.
2) All agricultural ingredients in the product must be organic unless not available.
3) Only an “Organic” product is allowed to wear the EU Agriculture seal.
The exception to rules above are for instance organic eggs, flour, sugar and organic apples. These products do not have the certified logo and only 70% of the products are organic and 30% are not.
Hope the above information helps you on your organic journey.
If you have doubts or questions please contact us at: investinyourself@cosmopolitatv.com, or at our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/investinyourself7/
We are more than happy to help you!
See you next week 🙂
