Label Lingo
The Center for Science in the Public Interest can help shoppers decipher the labels on produce, meats and other groceries. Here are the definitions you’ll find at the grocery store:
ORGANIC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES were grown without synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or sewage sludge and haven’t been genetically engineered or irradiated.
ORGANIC BEEF AND CHICKEN come from animals that weren’t the offspring of cloned animals. They were raised on 100 percent organic feed, were never given growth hormones, antibiotics or other drugs, and their meet was never irradiated.
ORGANIC MILK comes from animals that, for at least the last year, were fed 100 percent organic feed and weren’t given antibiotics or growth hormones like rBST.
ORGANIC EGGS come from hens that were fed 100 percent organic feed and were never given growth hormones or antibiotics.
ORGANIC SEAFOOD doesn’t mean anything since the USDA hasn’t defined the term.
CAGE-FREE EGGS are not necessarily organic. They come from hens that were not confined to cages and that may or may not have had access to the outdoors.
FREE RANGE POULTRY have access to the outdoors, but for no minimum time. They’re not necessarily organic.
NO ANTIBIOTICS ADDED can appear on labels if the producer can document that the animals were raised without antibiotics.
NATURAL meat or poultry contain “no artificial ingredients and are no more than minimally processed.” They’re not necessarily organic.
Source: July/August 2007 edition of the CSPI’s Nutrition Action Healthletter.
The “Dirty Dozen”
If you can’t afford to buy all organic produce, start by buying from this list, which researchers have found to be the most contaminated conventional produce:
Source: “The Shoppers Guide to Pesticide in Produce”
Shopping tips
These suggestions for buying organic on a budget are just the beginning. If you have other ideas, post your tips on Food Editor Lorie Hutson’s Fresh Sheet blog and continue the conversation. You’ll find it at spokesmanreview.com/blogs/freshsheet