NEWS ADVISORY
***PRESS CONFERENCE CALL TOMORROW MORNING***
CONTACT: Craig Culp, (202) 547-9359, (301) 509-0925 (mobile); Joseph Mendelson, (202) 547-9359.
Congress to vote on revising national organic standards
WHAT: Press conference call on Congressional vote to weaken organic standards.
WHEN: October 26, 2005, at 11:00 a.m. (EST).
WHERE: Call (800) 247-5110, enter Pass Code #27373
WHO: Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director, Center for Food Safety, Jay Feldman, Beyond Pesticides, Ronnie Cummins, Co-founder and National Director of Organic Consumers Association, Urvashi Rangan, Senior Scientist and Policy Analyst at Consumers Union, and Jim Riddle, Chair of the National Organic Standards Board.
WHY: To discuss weakening of national organic standards through passage of an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill being voted on by Congress at 4:00 today. The amendment (sponsored by the Organic Trade Association) would allow:
—Numerous synthetic processing ingredients and aids, including over 500 food contact substances, to be used in organic foods without any type of public review for their safety and compatibility with organic production and processing to be used in organic food without public review.
—Young dairy cows to be treated with antibiotics and fed genetically engineered feed prior to being converted to organic production.
—Loopholes under which non-organic ingredients could be substituted for organic ingredients without any notification of the public based on “emergency decrees.”
BACKGROUND: The Organic Trade Association and food processors are asking Congress to change the Organic Foods Production Act to allow numerous un-reviewed synthetic substances into products labeled “organic” and to weaken organic dairy standards. A recent court decision ruled that the Organic Foods Production Act does not allow synthetic (non-natural) ingredients to be used in foods labeled “organic” and must ensure a strong standard under which dairy cows are converted to organic milk production. After rejecting efforts by members of the public interest and environmental community to reach an agreement on these issues, major food processors in the organic food industry pushed Congress to “quietly” change the law to allow the use of such synthetic ingredients and potentially weaken the organic dairy standards.
