"Canada Organic" - New regulations for Organics!!!

To buy organic or not to buy organic? From a health perspective, it's an easy choice, but something I learnt in my naturopathic medical education was that there really was no standard for organics. There really was no policing for organic goods so there was a chance that consumers were paying organic prices for non-organic goods. Of course, I was taught this many years ago when there were a number of logos competing for organic supremacy. And the fact is, I haven't seen a recognizable logo come out on top - no gold standard if you will. That is until now!

The Canada Food Inspection Agency has undertaken steps that will require mandatory certification for agricultural products represented as organic in imports & exports. The national standard for Canada will bear a logo as shown above. Finally, a recognizable logo that you can trust and one undertaken by the federal government as the demand for organic products increase. This logo will be coming into force on 2008-12-14. This logo will be permitted for use on:

• Products with at least 95% organic ingredients.
• That use natural fertilizers during production.
• Avoid genetically modified plant seeds.
• Raise animals in conditions that mimic nature as much as possible. So I'm assuming here that no hormones or drugs can be injected.
  

Now, I know, some of you will say that it's not 100% organic and that there are other certification logos out there that say 100% organic. I can't argue with you there, but I definitely feel that this is a positive step especially when it's an initiative undertaken by the federal government and one that we know will be monitored at the federal level.