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So what is enough to find on a product (label or else) that makes it truly organic (regulated by USDA). Is "organic" itself means this and it is restricted to put this word on any product that is not organic?

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  • This feels off-topic. Aaronut?
    – FuzzyChef
    Jan 11, 2012 at 5:19
  • Isn't this about food?
    – Restuta
    Jan 11, 2012 at 5:29
  • @FuzzyChef, I think the correct term here is 'too localized'.
    – Mien
    Jan 11, 2012 at 10:34
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    @Mien: I don't think 'entire United States' can really be considered too localized. That said, I'm not really sure this is on-topic either, but this discussion really ought to be taken to meta.
    – derobert
    Jan 11, 2012 at 16:46
  • @derobert So buying organic food has no relation to cooking?
    – Restuta
    Jan 11, 2012 at 23:12

2 Answers 2

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The USDA does regulate a notion of "organic" in the US. Here's their full page on organic, and one specifically on regulations. Many of the links there are quite relevant. The best one for you is probably the labeling for consumers page, though many others would be informative for you as well. The Organic Labeling and Marketing Fact Sheet contains more details about labeling restrictions. Those pages all have tons of links, depending on what exactly you're looking for.

In terms of labeling, as described in the linked page on labeling, yes, the USDA regulates the usage of the USDA organic seal:

Look at the label. If you see the USDA organic seal, the product is certified organic and has 95 percent or more organic content. For multi-ingredient products such as bread or soup, if the label claims that it is made with specified organic ingredients, you can be confident that those specific ingredients have been certified organic.

Unfortunately many other people do have their own notions of what organic means, and if you see the term used without the seal, then you can't really tell what standards it was held to.

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You can look up foods by product name in the USDA Food Composition Databases, and if "organic" is in the name, it is USDA organic.

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  • Please do not copy-paste answers. Unless the questions are exact duplicates, then you end up with something that doesn't directly answer one of the questions. In this case, it's this one: the question is asking more than just how to look up for a single product.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Mar 23, 2018 at 0:50

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