USDA Proposes Amendment to List of Ingredients Allowed in Organic Products

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week announced a proposal to expand the list of non-organically produced ingredients that may be used in processed organic foods. The proposed rule would add 38 substances recommended by the food industry to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.

"IDFA welcomes the proposed rule, because it would give our member processing companies increased flexibility in the types of ingredients they can include in organic products," said Cary Frye, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs.

To be included in the organic category, products must be made with at least 95% organic ingredients and no more than 5% non-organic ingredients. These non-organic ingredients must be included on the National List of acceptable additives and are only allowed if an organic form of the ingredient is not commercially available.

AMS has established a short comment period, which ends tomorrow, to expedite the approval process. If the 38 new ingredients are not added to the National List by June 9, 2007, their use in organic products would be considered non-compliant with the National Organic Program regulations. If adopted, however, the final rulemaking will be issued before June 9 to permit the use of the 38 ingredients and avoid any unnecessary business interruptions.

Here is the list of ingredients that AMS proposes to add to the National List:

Casings, from processed intestines Celery powder Chia (Salvia hispanica) Colors derived from agricultural products, such as annatto extract, beet juice, beta-carotene derived from carrots, black currant juice, black/purple carrot juice, blueberry juice, carrot juice, cherry juice, chokeberry-aronia juice, elderberry juice, grape juice, grape skin extract, paprika, pumpkin juice, purple potato juice, red cabbage extract, red radish extract, saffron and turmeric Dillweed oil Fish oil stabilized with organic ingredients or only with ingredients on the National List, Fructooligosaccharides Galangal, frozen Gelatin Hops Inulin-oligofructose enriched Konjac flour Lemongrass- frozen Orange shellac-unbleached Peppers (chipotle chile) Rice starch, unmodified and sweet potato starch Turkish bay leaves Wakame seaweed (Undaria pinnatifida) Whey protein concentrate

To read the proposed rule, click here. For more information, contact Frye at cfrye@idfa.org or 202-220-3543.

#  #   #

Posted May 21, 2007