Is your food really organic?

Organic food is a hot topic in the current time where almost everyone is curious to know more about it. People are having a major concern about the transparency of the product. Is the food really organic which we are buying or consuming? People now want to get aware about their selection so that they are buying or consuming the very product that they desire. 

“It is very important to know whether a person is consuming a genuine organic product or not. Organic food is invading the food sector more than ever which is attracting a lot of health-conscious people who believe in spending a healthy life,” says Aaditya Pancharya, owner, TGIH. 

Organic farming has been in the talk since 2001 which has been promoted since then by various third-party certification systems. Among these is the National Program for Organic Production which is guided by Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Development Authority which is under the Ministry of Commerce. Products which are certified by them carry the India organic logo. Another system started in the year 2015 where farmers went on inspection by themselves making sure for the organic credentials. A group of farmers were elected by themselves who went from land to land making sure that the foods to be received are organic. This system was called Participatory Guarantee System which is run by the Ministry of Agriculture. They have their own logo which is PGS-India Green logo that certifies about the food being organic.

Things have certainly changed with time. The government is making a statement in production of organic food by introducing its certification. As compared to international countries, the certification is handed over to a third party structure whereas in our country the government is directly stepping into the process. The government has tied up with FSSAI which are looking after the organic food.

How to identify?

The FSSAI logo and license number which are imprinted on the genuine organic products is the key thing from which a person can identify about the product being organic or not. On the other hand, PGS product comes up with its own logo and unique product id. Recently FSSAI has introduced a new logo for the organic food products which comes with the tagline Jaivik Bharat.

Single ingredient product labeled under the NPOP system which meets all the requirement of being organic is labeled as “Organic”. But when it’s about the multi ingredients products, they come up with the label “Certified organic” from which people can distinguish whether the product is organic or not.

Another scheme or system which is going around in India is the PGS – Indian scheme which has its own label for stating a product to be organic. They come up with the label PGS-India Green which states the product to be organic.

Organic food has taken the industry by storm but still has a long way to go. Ranging from production to consumption. The government being involved in making sure whether the product is organic or not, we can say that this particular food segment is heading in the right direction.