'Organic' products: Are Kiwis being duped?

Some products incorrectly branded organic, industry body warns. Photo / 123RF

As Kiwi consumers' appetites for organic food grow, one of the nation's top certifiers has called for policy changes to both safeguard authentic organic producers and ensure consumers are getting what they are paying for.

According to the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) website "organic" products are "made or grown according to organic production standards and can be certified by an official body".

However, there is no specific legislation governing these production standards. And that is something certifier's BioGro wants changed.

Donald Nordeng, chief executive BioGro - one of two third-party agents approved by the MPI to audit organic farmers, growers and manufacturers - said many consumers had misconceptions about what "organic" items actually were.

Some producers also didn't understand the term, he said, and some of their branded "organic" products might not actually be what they claim to be.

"What we find a lot of times is that people are really sincere, they think they are growing organically but actually what they're doing isn't organic. Without a specific standard who's to say what's organic?"

New Zealand and Australia were the only countries in the OECD without a specific national standards, he said.

"International best practice is that there's a national standard - that there are credited certification bodies and that there's a labelling regulation that specifies what's organic."

BioGro auditors worked with more than 600 farmers, growers and manufacturers of organic food, beauty products, sanitary items and cleaning products throughout the South Pacific, ensuring they were using organic farming methods for at least three years before certifying them.

"Organic is about protecting the soil, protecting the air and protecting the person that eats the product," Nordeng said.

"The approach is about feeding the soil rather than bringing in energy to the field. We don't use a lot of synthetic chemicals. Essentially you're managing without herbicides - that's the main difference.

"If it's a dairy farm they have to have animal health management practices that are approved to a standard... You wouldn't be using soluble fertilisers, you have to use other fertilisation techniques."

Without all products being certified by a third-party organisation it was difficult for consumers to ensure what they were buying was truly organic, Nordeng said.

"There's a lot of communication that happens during the audit process. It brings people's understanding into alignment."

The lack of regulation was a big concern for certified organic producers, Nordeng said, because they invested enormous amounts of time and effort into ensuring their products were genuinely organic.

"And they rightly want consumers to know what they're buying is what it claims to be."

Nordeng said organic products which were BioGro-certified stated so on the packaging and were listed on the company's website.

The only other organisation recognised by MPI as an auditor of organic operators was AsureQuality.

BioGro will run a campaign called a World of Good throughout July encouraging consumers to photograph and share to social media organic products with its certification logo.

• For more information on the campaign, visit www.biogro.co.nz/worldofgood.