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Lately I’ve been trying to find and buy products that are non GM (genetically modified), but I didn’t really pay much attention to the fact that there is a difference between organic and natural products and how they are labeled. I’ve noticed that there are still a lot of people who confuse the two and end up buying the wrong type of products or are just misinformed.
Organic describes a ingredient as grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers and are processed without man-made chemicals
Natural refers to ingredients that can be derived from petrol, plants, minerals and algae. They are non- GM (genetically modified)
Some people find the labels confusing. “What products are organic? How do you know if the product is really organic or natural? "
Well we have certifying bodies that help our search for organic or natural products. They analyze the products then give a mark of approval depending on the ingredients. For example the Soil Association say that they only give the approval of using the “certified organic” logo if the product has a minimum of 95% organic ingredients and if there is up to 70% they add the “made with xx organic ingredients” logo (the rest of the percentage make up natural ingredients).
In the EU all products have to be certified in order for them to be labeled “organic” but unfortunately it doesn’t extend to beauty products. You still find products that could only have 1% organic ingredients with other harmful ingredients like SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) and are still labeled organic! So you really have to be careful, however the Soil Association would not approve this!
The best thing to do when sourcing organic or natural products is to find out what ingredients the certifying bodies don’t accept and look for the official logos of the certifying bodies. In case you don’t find any and it is labeled as “certified organic”, check the ingredients on the back because chances are that it has only small amounts of organic ingredients. If that is the case, then you make a choice for yourself. As for me its pointless buying something like that especially when the whole point was to avoid GM ingredients! The same technique should be applied to natural products as well.
Here are some certifying bodies that you might want to look at, they list companies that sell certified products as well as brands. Plus they inform you on the ingredients they do not approve. (Click on images)
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BEWARE
As a final note be careful when looking at the products with certified labels as sometimes they may have lookalikes on them that claim to have approval of the certifying bodies! (these obviously haven’t been through any certification procedure)
Posted by Epifany in
Articles
- 28 May 2009
9:02 AM
Lately I’ve been trying to find and buy products that are non GM (genetically modified), but I didn’t really pay much attention to the fact that there is a difference between organic and natural products and how they are labeled. I’ve noticed that there are still a lot of people who confuse the two and end up buying the wrong type of products or are just misinformed.Organic describes a ingredient as grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers and are processed without man-made chemicals
Natural refers to ingredients that can be derived from petrol, plants, minerals and algae. They are non- GM (genetically modified)
Some people find the labels confusing. “What products are organic? How do you know if the product is really organic or natural? "
Well we have certifying bodies that help our search for organic or natural products. They analyze the products then give a mark of approval depending on the ingredients. For example the Soil Association say that they only give the approval of using the “certified organic” logo if the product has a minimum of 95% organic ingredients and if there is up to 70% they add the “made with xx organic ingredients” logo (the rest of the percentage make up natural ingredients).
In the EU all products have to be certified in order for them to be labeled “organic” but unfortunately it doesn’t extend to beauty products. You still find products that could only have 1% organic ingredients with other harmful ingredients like SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) and are still labeled organic! So you really have to be careful, however the Soil Association would not approve this!
The best thing to do when sourcing organic or natural products is to find out what ingredients the certifying bodies don’t accept and look for the official logos of the certifying bodies. In case you don’t find any and it is labeled as “certified organic”, check the ingredients on the back because chances are that it has only small amounts of organic ingredients. If that is the case, then you make a choice for yourself. As for me its pointless buying something like that especially when the whole point was to avoid GM ingredients! The same technique should be applied to natural products as well.
Here are some certifying bodies that you might want to look at, they list companies that sell certified products as well as brands. Plus they inform you on the ingredients they do not approve. (Click on images)
BEWARE
As a final note be careful when looking at the products with certified labels as sometimes they may have lookalikes on them that claim to have approval of the certifying bodies! (these obviously haven’t been through any certification procedure)
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