Organic products. In addition to the label, everything there is to know

By now we are all used to seeing products indicated as organic on the shelves. I had an idea of what it meant for a while; however, it was rather vague and I couldn’t say how close this was to reality or, on the other hand, how much it was due to rather misleading suggestions from the communication surrounding us.
Let’s try and explain a bit better!

Agricultural organic products are products obtained using organic agricultural methods, i.e., an agriculture which pays particular attention to respecting the environment, the balance of nature and biodiversity, and which aims at offering the consumer wholesome products obtained in respect of nature’s cycle.

Organic products have been regulated by Reg. (EEC) n. 2092/91 – the first community legislative act concerning this matter; then, on 1st January 2009, the current laws went into force, i.e. Reg (CE) n. 834/2007 – and implementation regulation Reg (CE) n. 889/2008.

The regulation of 2007 states that organic production must pursue the following general objectives:

• to establish a sustainable management system for agriculture which: i) respects natural systems and cycles and improves the health of the soil, waters, plants and animals and the balance among them; ii) contributes to a high level of biological diversity; iii) ensures a responsible use of energy and natural resources such as water, the earth, organic materials and the air; iv) respects strict criteria regarding the wellbeing of animals and satisfies, in particular, the specific behavioural needs of animals according to the species;
• to aim at obtaining high quality products;
• to aim at producing a wide variety of foods and other agricultural products that satisfy the demand of the consumers for products obtained with procedures which do not damage the environment, human health, the health of vegetables or the health and wellbeing of animals.

Also, according to the regulation of 2007, organic production is based on certain general principles and on other specific principles applicable to agriculture. Amongst the first we find, for example:

• the appropriate design and management of organic processes based on ecologic systems that use natural resources within the systems themselves with methods that exclude the use of GMO and products deriving or obtained from GMO with the exception of veterinary medicines;
• limitation of the use of external production factors;
• rigorous limitation to exceptional cases the use of production factors obtained by chemical synthesis.

Instead, among the specific principles applicable to agriculture we find, for example:

• reduction to the minimum of the use of non-renewable resources and of production factors with external origin;
• the recycling of waste products and by-products of vegetable and animal origin as production factors for crops and animal rearing;
• the health of plants must be protected through prophylactic measures, such as the choice of appropriate species and varieties resistant to parasites and vegetable diseases, appropriate crop rotations, mechanical and physical methods and the protection of the natural enemies of parasites.

There are also specific principles which apply to the transformation of organic foods. Among these, we find the limitation of the use of additives and non-organic ingredients with mainly sensorial and technological functions and the ban on using transformation substances and methods which may mislead people about the true nature of the product.

Then, there are regulations concerning vegetable production inspired by principles. Among these we find, for example, the obligation to use techniques for processing the ground and crop practices adapted to safeguard or increase the content of organic material in the earth, to increasing the stability of the earth and its biodiversity, and preventing the compacting and erosion of the soil; or that all vegetable production techniques should avoid or restrict environmental pollution to the minimum.

One regulation which deserves to be looked at more closely is the one relating to plant protection products. The regulation states that, in the event of establishment of a serious risk for a crop, the use of plant protection products is allowed, however only if such products have been authorised to be used in organic production. And, in order for them to be authorised, the following are necessary:

• such products must be necessary for an on-going and essential production for the envisaged usage;
• all the products and substances must be of vegetable, animal, microbial or mineral origin unless products or substances deriving from such sources are not available in sufficient quantities or qualities, or alternatives are not available;
• these are products which are essential for fighting a harmful organism or a particular disease and no biological, physical alternatives are available or relating to the selection of vegetables or growing practices or other efficacious management practices;
• if they are not of vegetable, animal, microbial or mineral origin and they are not identical to their natural form, the products can be authorised only if the conditions of their usage exclude any direct contact with the edible parts of the crop.

Some examples of pesticides of natural origin are the family of “pyrethrin" molecules, the bacterium bacillus thuringiensis, sulphate and copper hydroxide and sulphur. With regard to the “natural and health" topic, however, we must be careful not to fall into the ‘natural is always good’ trap. Some of these non-chemical remedies, in fact, must however be used with attention and moderation and may have negative consequences; therefore there must be standards and reliability on the part of organic producers too. A substance like rotenone, for example, has been abolished recently due to its toxicity; and copper salts, used as fungicides, accumulate in the earth and are not easily eliminated.