Fraud is “without a doubt the biggest threat to organic products,” says Lynn Clarkson, CEO of Clarkson Grain, an Illinois-based supplier of organic and non-GMO grains. “Every day, conventional corn and soybeans are sold with fraudulent organic certification.” “Organic products have been a very attractive target for scammers,” says Gwendolyn Wyard, founding partner of Strengthening Organic Systems, LLC, a new advisory firm focused on preventing organic fraud. “We have the perfect recipe because we have a demand that exceeds supply and, in many cases, a higher price.” With high prices for organic products, criminals or even some farmers try to profit by selling grains or products grown by conventional methods (with pesticides and even GMOs) as organic, violating the rules of the National Organic Program. One of the underlying factors driving The fraud is the greater demand for organic corn and soybeans than the US supply of such grains, which are used in organic poultry production. As a result, the United States relies heavily on imports of organic grains. About 26% of organic corn and 76% of organic soybeans used for poultry feed in the United States come from abroad, according to Mercaris, an organic market data company. Those beans come from the Black Sea region, including Turkey and Russia, as well as Argentina and Africa. Countries in the Black Sea region are suspected of sending fraudulent supplies of those grains, according to John Bobbe, a Wisconsin organic farmer and former director of OFARM, which oversees organic farmer cooperatives in the Midwest. https://non-gmoreport.com/articles/fraud-is-unquestionably-the-biggest-threat-to-organic/ (2023).—
Organic fraud is one of the most common types of food fraud. Karen Constable of Food Fraud Advisors took an in-depth look at the survey results to see how organic foods fared. The 2019 survey analyzed nearly 10,000 samples of 21 types of fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables, as well as tomato paste, dried chickpeas, rice and oats. The official report contains excellent and detailed information on the sampling systems. The report also provides an overview of commodity results and analyzes differences between domestic and imported products, but does not specifically analyze organic food results. In 2019 and 2020, the USDA acknowledged that there were widespread compliance problems in US organic certification programs. About a quarter of foods labeled "organic" contained residues of at least one pesticide and just under half of them had unsafe levels. There were a small number of notable samples (1%) that contained high residues or unsafe levels of multiple pesticides. Summary: ---26% of the "organic" samples had detectable levels of pesticides. -----9% of the "organic" samples had unsafe levels** of at least one pesticide----1% of the "organic" samples contained four or more pesticides at unsafe levels.---The 1% of the "organic" samples contained traces of more than 10 pesticides. https://foodfraudadvisors.com/pesticide-residues-organic-food-2021/
Fraud is “without a doubt the biggest threat to organic products,” says Lynn Clarkson, CEO of Clarkson Grain, an Illinois-based supplier of organic and non-GMO grains. “Every day, conventional corn and soybeans are sold with fraudulent organic certification.” “Organic products have been a very attractive target for scammers,” says Gwendolyn Wyard, founding partner of Strengthening Organic Systems, LLC, a new advisory firm focused on preventing organic fraud. “We have the perfect recipe because we have a demand that exceeds supply and, in many cases, a higher price.” With high prices for organic products, criminals or even some farmers try to profit by selling grains or products grown by conventional methods (with pesticides and even GMOs) as organic, violating the rules of the National Organic Program. One of the underlying factors driving The fraud is the greater demand for organic corn and soybeans than the US supply of such grains, which are used in organic poultry production. As a result, the United States relies heavily on imports of organic grains. About 26% of organic corn and 76% of organic soybeans used for poultry feed in the United States come from abroad, according to Mercaris, an organic market data company. Those beans come from the Black Sea region, including Turkey and Russia, as well as Argentina and Africa. Countries in the Black Sea region are suspected of sending fraudulent supplies of those grains, according to John Bobbe, a Wisconsin organic farmer and former director of OFARM, which oversees organic farmer cooperatives in the Midwest. https://non-gmoreport.com/articles/fraud-is-unquestionably-the-biggest-threat-to-organic/ (2023).—
Organic fraud is one of the most common types of food fraud. Karen Constable of Food Fraud Advisors took an in-depth look at the survey results to see how organic foods fared. The 2019 survey analyzed nearly 10,000 samples of 21 types of fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables, as well as tomato paste, dried chickpeas, rice and oats. The official report contains excellent and detailed information on the sampling systems. The report also provides an overview of commodity results and analyzes differences between domestic and imported products, but does not specifically analyze organic food results. In 2019 and 2020, the USDA acknowledged that there were widespread compliance problems in US organic certification programs. About a quarter of foods labeled "organic" contained residues of at least one pesticide and just under half of them had unsafe levels. There were a small number of notable samples (1%) that contained high residues or unsafe levels of multiple pesticides. Summary: ---26% of the "organic" samples had detectable levels of pesticides. -----9% of the "organic" samples had unsafe levels** of at least one pesticide----1% of the "organic" samples contained four or more pesticides at unsafe levels.---The 1% of the "organic" samples contained traces of more than 10 pesticides. https://foodfraudadvisors.com/pesticide-residues-organic-food-2021/