The difference between Non-GMO and Organic

Date posted: April 14, 2015

BY Anita Joubert Dubai

Organic:
To put it simply, if you see the USDA Organic or Certified Organic seal on your food, the item must have an ingredients list and the contents should be 95% or more certified organic, meaning free of synthetic additives like pesticides , chemical fertilizers, and dyes, and must not be processed using industrial solvents or irradiation. Organic foods prohibit the use of genetically modified ingredients, but many consumers don’t know that. So if you see the seal USDA Organic it means the product is non-GMO even if it does not have the seal Non-GMO.

Non-GMO:
The Non-GMO Project logo identifies products that lack ingredients produced in agricultural systems that depend on glyphosate and artificially mutated seed genomes. That’s all it does. It does not attempt to address critical issues associated with industrial farming, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, or the vertically integrated control of processing and marketing.

Is Non-GMO labeling hurting Organic sales?
Natural food retailers have concerns about non-GMO label but say it’s necessary for consumer choice. While some natural food retailers are concerned about the impact of Non-GMO Project verified products on sales of organic foods, most believe that without mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods the Non-GMO label is needed to give consumers a choice in the marketplace. There is good and bad in this situation. Putting another label on a product can create confusion. Customers are looking for Non-GMO but may not know that organic is Non-GMO. But the demand for Non-GMO speaks strongly to the fact that consumers want to know what’s in their food.
It all comes down to educating the consumer retailers say that consumer education is needed on differences between the two labels. We should not lose focus on the benefits of organic on the health of the planet. Remember if you buy Organic it means the product is Non-GMO even if you don’t see the Non-GMO seal. At the end of it all, Organic is the gold standard meaning that it is also Non-GMO!

Yours in Health & Fitness!

Anita Joubert

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