Organic Advocates Railing Against Industry/Obama Administration Power Grab As collateral damage spreads, with Congress continuing at loggerheads over a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government, the newest victims include farmers and consumers who depend on the USDA to oversee the propriety and integrity of the organic industry. In a unique regulatory structure, Congress created… Read more »
Search Results for: carrageenan
Unbelievable! USDA Power Grab Should Not Go Unchallenged
(This Action Alert is Over) USDA violates the Organic Foods Production Act Draft rule on carrageenan, cellulose and “inert” synthetics in pesticides disregards decisions by the National Organic Standards Board Comment before Monday, June 3, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. ET Political corruption and power grabs usually happen behind closed doors. The Cornucopia Institute has consistently… Read more »
The Cultivator – Spring 2013
The Spring issue of Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter is now available online. Download it in PDF form: Cultivator Spring 2013 In it you’ll find: Cover story: USDA Organic Program: Schizophrenic? Editorial: Whose “Science” Should We Trust? News: State GMO Actions Multiply After Prop 37 Preview: Carrageenan: The “Natural” Food Additive That’s Making Us Sick Feature: Toxic… Read more »
FDA Puts Industry Profit Over Public Health – Defends Safety of Controversial Food Additive
The Cornucopia Institute Releases Report Formally Requests Removal of Carrageenan from List of Allowed Additives Cornucopia, WI – The Cornucopia Institute formally requested that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remove the common additive carrageenan from the US food supply. Last year the FDA rejected a 2008 citizen petition, which presented scientific studies linking carrageenan… Read more »
National Organic Standards Board Meetings
Cornucopia is the most vocal and engaged watchdog of The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). The 15-member NOSB is an expert citizen panel created by Congress, charged with advising the Secretary of Agriculture on organic policy. Cornucopia closely monitors the NOSB’s biannual meetings and activities. One of the NOSB’s most important tasks is to determine… Read more »
National Organic Standards Board Votes to Reject More Synthetic Additives in Infant Formula
Positive news for organic consumers from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting currently taking place in Providence, Rhode Island: the NOSB has rejected the petitions to allow synthetic versions of the nutrients taurine, lycopene, lutein and l-carnitine in organic foods, including organic infant formula. The NOSB also rejected the petitions for two synthetic preservatives… Read more »
5 Surprising Ingredients Allowed in Organic Food
Mother Jones By Tom Philpott Sunday’s New York Times piece on the corporatization of organics (which I commented on here) got me to thinking: What are the weirdest additives the USDA allows in food labeled “organic”? Here are five. 1. Carrageenan Made from seaweed and used as a thickener and stabilizer for certain dairy products… Read more »
Has ‘Organic’ Been Oversized?
NY Times By Stephanie Strom Ann Arbor, MI — Michael J. Potter is one of the last little big men left in organic food. More than 40 years ago, Mr. Potter bought into a hippie cafe and “whole earth” grocery here that has since morphed into a major organic foods producer and wholesaler, Eden Foods…. Read more »
Organic Industry Watchdog Challenges USDA’s Lack of Transparency
Flawed Appointments Have Led to Corrupt Oversight System WASHINGTON DC: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today formally announced it is seeking nominations for an opening on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a 15-member panel set up by Congress responsible for approving all non-organic/synthetic materials in organics and recommending regulatory policy. Past appointments… Read more »
Wildfires Rage at New Mexican Organic Meetings
Farmers, Consumers and Public Interest Groups Square off Against Corporate Interests ALBUQUERQUE, NM: Passions flared at the semiannual meeting of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the federal advisory panel approved a number of synthetic ingredients for use in organics, over the objection of the majority of… Read more »
