You see the term organic and you think, yes, that's what I want, it's got to be healthier, I'm going to choose that one. I know, I’ve done it too.
Unfortunately, the term organic is often misused and there are some things you need to know about the term organic and what it truly means.
What Organic Really Means - How to Find Safe, Healthy, Toxin-Free, Green, Eco-Friendly, and Non-Toxic Products Without Getting Greenwashed
The term “certified organic or USDA certified organic” is specific to food and other products regulated by the USDA. So if it has the organic seal, or it says certified USDA organic, it actually means that it's a food or agricultural item that must have 95% or more organic ingredients.
So here's where it gets a little bit confusing….
Oftentimes you'll see an organic label on non-food products, like lotions, or deodorants. Things that you don't put in your mouth. The truth is, the whole product in and of itself can't be certified organic. Because it's not food product regulated by the USDA. It can have organic ingredients in it, or it can contain certified organic ingredients. But that term organic as a label for an entire product really isn't the correctly being used. There are other certifications out there like the Global Organic Textile Standard or GOTS that you will see for bedding and mattresses. That's its own certification in and of itself and there are others, but often you’ll see the term “organic” misused without any certifications backing it up.
If a personal care product or cosmetic is made up of agricultural ingredients, like those that are regulated by the USDA, and they are organic, then those ingredients could actually be certified USDA Organic. But there are very few, products that can be made up entirely of agricultural ingredients. First of all, they're probably not going to work very well if they're 100%, made from agricultural ingredients, like food products, or vegetables or natural oils. But also, they probably don't have enough preservatives to have much of a shelf life.
When I'm shopping for products for myself, I like to have a high number of organic ingredients within the product itself. The whole product is not going to be certified organic, but when I read the ingredient label, I like a large majority of those ingredients to be organic. And if there are other ingredients that are listed that aren't organic, I would like them to be ingredients that don’t have the option of being organic, non-food/agricultural ingredients.
When I look at an ingredient label for Crunchi, I see that predominantely the ingredients have an asterisk noting that they are certified organic. Those that don't have the certified organic asterisk are not a food or an agricultural item and simply can't be certified organic.
When I compare other brands that maybe have really clean ingredients but none of the ingredients are organic, but the company could choose to use an organic version of the ingredient, but they choose not to, that's when I start to think “well, this brand probably isn't as good as I would like it to be”. If the ingredients aren't organic when they potentially could be, then it means that they are grown with pesticides which are not good for my body or the environment.
If you're seeing the term organic used on packaging for a product that doesn’t have predominantly food ingredients, that should be a red flag for you. You could be getting greenwashed. Read your labels and if you ever have questions about the safety of a product shoot me an email at megan@detox.design or post to the wonderful community in my Facebook group Toxin-Free Talk. There you can find out all about Crunchi and all the other products that I’ve vetted for safety and environmental standards.
If you just want to shop for safe products for your home, toxin-free sunscreen for your beach bag (yay summer!), and many other great eco-friendly products visit my online store at www.detox.design/thebox
