Let’s face it. Organic food products are high in demand. You’ll see people walking down mall aisles looking for those organic food product sticker labels, a practice set by the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration.

To be called Organic Food, the food has to pass a standard set by the FDA. These standards include things like - it has to be grown without the use of chemicals or the livestock must be raised without the use of growth hormones and antibiotics. The list goes on.

What are some requirements for the certification of organic food?

The demand for organic food has risen and it’s caught the attention of the government. The government has stepped in to make sure everything goes according to plan by issuing certain criteria. Certified organic food involve more than not using pesticide and chemical fertilizer.

Every part of the process has to meet stringent criteria to earn the certification, starting from when the seeds start growing to how they’re handled, even until the time they reach the consumers.

Even all the suppliers involved in organic food must pass their appropriate requirements. These include the seed providers, farmers, food processing companies, food retailers, and restaurants.

Something worth taking note here: these standards differ by country. Just because a certain practice is allowed in the United States, it doesn’t mean the same applies to different countries.

In a nutshell, the absence of synthetic products, chemical additives, pesticides, and growth hormones characterize the certification of organic food. Clearly, using sewer sludge as fertilizer will exempt a company from becoming a certified organic food provider.

Production Participants Have Standards, Too

Every company involved in the making of organic food must pass their own meticulous standard. They must keep strict records of production and sales. They must also record every equipment type involved in production. They must also maintain a solid border between the organic production areas from the non-organic production areas.

As mentioned earlier, all the fields used by these companies must be kept free of pesticides and other chemicals that would violate standards. Usually, the initial number of pesticide-free years is three, but this number varies by country.

All the land is subject to periodic inspection. This is necessary in maintaining the title of a certified organic food producer.

Being a certified organic food producer entails this extra mile. And this is made possible from the risen demand of organic food, and the growing awareness of healthy lifestyles.