Organic Gift Baskets California and How to Read Organic Labels

The presence of the USDA Organic and/or CCOF name or seal on a product is a gaurantee that the food or item you are purchasing has been grown or produced according to federally regulated organic standards and has been inspected and certified to be in compliance with these standards by an accredited third-party agency such as CCOF.
There are 4 types of Organic Products:
100% Organic
These products use 100% organic ingredients and are only processed with 100% organic methods. Absolutely no non-organic agriculture ingredients are used excluding water and salt. These products must be certified and the certifying agency must be named on the label. Look for the CCOF Certified label and/or the USDA Organic Label.
Organic
Organic products contain at least 95% organic ingredients. Up to 5% may be from a limited list of allowed non-organic agricultural ingredients and other additives (e.g. vitamins, baking soda, citric acid) approved by the USDA National Organic Program. Like 100% Organic products, these products must also be certified and the certifying agency must be named on the label. Look for the CCOF Certified label and/or the USDA Organic Label.
Made With Organic Ingredients
These products must contain 70% - 94% organic ingredients. The remaining 30% can be allowed non-organic agricultural ingredients approved by the USDA National Organic Program (e.g. vitamins and citric acid). Organic products may list up to three organic foods or food groups on their label. Again, these products must be certified, but will not contain the USDA Organic seal.
Products with less than 70% Organic Ingredients
These products are not required to be certified. All products with less than 70% organic ingredients are in this category. There are no restrictions on non-organic ingredients. The word "organic" can only be listed in the ingredients panel describing the organic ingredients in the product. These products will not have the CCOF or USDA Organic seal.
Eileen Scudder has been in the organic food and gift industry for over 15 years. She currently sells customizable organic gift products from her online store. Shop now for unique corporate and personal organic gift baskets california.