Public confused, as organic food is not chemical free
Posted by Alan | Under Organic Food Tuesday Jan 26, 2010
A new survey asked consumers what they think when they enter a supermarket and see organic food on display, the majority answered either chemical free or expensive.
Expensive is true given the fact that organic foods can cost on average from ten percent more than conventional food, up to a massive100% more.
However, chemical free is not a true assumption as even foods that contain the label organic can still be grown with chemicals so long as the chemicals on are the list of approved substances offered by organizations across the UK and Europe.
Most people at major supermarkets who responded the question of organic food explained that the items were not made with pesticides or fertilizers. In particular, one staff member claimed the food was not genetically modified, while only one was able to answer correctly, stating that organic foods are grown with the use of fewer chemicals.
Even a Soil Association spokesperson stated that organic food items were grown without pesticides before changing their response to a ‘minimal amount’ of pesticides.
Although organic food growers are not trying to scam consumers, some customers still feel a bit let down when they learn that there are still pesticides used on organic foods.
This could be due to the fact that most organic food items do not have labels that explain what organic really means.
For example, a bag of potatoes that were organically grown at a leading UK supermarket has a label that states the produce meets the standards of the EU and UK law.
With undiscerning labels such as these, it is easy to be misled since most consumers are not aware of what the standards actually are.
Finding out is an even larger problem, as the standards are not available on the Soil Association website, instead only a Consumer Guide to their standards is available, which explains how organic farming is grown, but does not list the approved fertilizers or pesticides that are used.
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