How Organic is your Organic Food?

The demand for organic food has risen of late thanks to the spate of diseases new lifestyle and harmful farming practices have brought upon us. Organic food, even at a higher price, promises to bring back the days when certain diseases like high blood pressure was unheard of, in young people at least. But there is always a risk of unscrupulous shopkeepers or suppliers selling us a dummy. In other words, how to make sure that an edible item labeled “organic” in a store or available for sale online is really organic.

Organic foods are those that have been grown without the modern day methods of using chemical fertilisers, pesticides and no genetic modification in the process. Since only organic ingredients are used without very limited or no exposure to non-organic products, one can expect them to be free from the harmful effects.

According to Neelima Sikka, the CEO of goindiaorganic.com, an online store for organic food products in India, "Organic Certification from a reputed authority is the most important thing, which customers should look for." The organic certification is given after verifying that the food has been grown and processed in those farms that are known as organic farms and have been certified as such.

A nutrition expert, Dr. Vidya has advised that one should look for the logo of the certification body that has granted the organic label. The store keeper should be able to explain in detail about the certification body and how it goes about certifying food products as organic. Organic products are always sold with the organic label.

There are different levels of organic labelling. Label that says 100% organic is for food products that have organically grown ingredients. Those that have the label of 95% organic, other than salt and water, should not have sulphites in them. There is another level of organic foods that bears the label “Made with organic ingredients”. Such food items have up to 70% organic ingredients.

Looking for organic food may be good if you are looking for healthy eating options but it is not a good idea to bring such products from thousands of miles away. The best thing to do is to get in touch with the farmers nearest to your city and encourage them to grow organic food, and buy directly from them.