Organic or Natural?

The USDA’s organic certification program is designed to help protect consumers, to some extent, from misleading advertising.  If a product has a label that says it is 100% organic, then it had better be organic.  These products are often very expensive, compared to available non-organic alternatives.  Contributing factors to the high prices of 100% organic products include extensive time, effort and costs to ensure the products have rightfully earned the right to wear their badge of honor.

In short, the USDA regulates package labeling based on the percentage of organic ingredients in the product.  Directly quoted from their website, “The percentage must reflect the actual weight or fluid volume (excluding water and salt) of the organic ingredients in the product. Four categories of organic content are established: 100 percent organic; 95 percent or more organic; 70 to 95 percent organic; and less than 70 percent organic.”  If you are interested in learning more, click here for details.

In general, I feel pretty confident when something says it’s 100% organic because I understand the company has had to jump through hoops to earn that designation.  But from there, the waters often become muddy.  There are a plethora of products with labels ranging from “all natural” to “made with organic ingredients” and everything in between.

And as with most things in life, education is key.  So what’s a concerned consumer to do?  Well, I recommend asking lots of questions, doing research and reading labels like crazy!  Just as we should be reading food labels to ensure we make the best choices for our health, we should do the same for body / hygeine products and home cleaners.  After all, what we use on our bodies, and to clean our homes, ultimately ends up in our bodies.

Government entities have stated that traces of parabens found in products are so miniscule that they will not harm us.  But what about the combination of stuff we use daily?  Just think about all of the soaps, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, deodorants, sanitizers and cleaners we come into contact with each day.  A trace of a paraben here and a speck of a phthalate there may really add up over time.  I am not aware of any available studies that back up this theory, but when it comes to our health, we should really make safety a priority.  I dunno about you, but I prefer to feel comfortable about what goes into my body!

Although we should trust our instincts and try to use good judgement, becoming fearful and distrusting will not help the situation.  Instead, we just need to make a conscious effort to arm ourselves with as much information as possible.  We will probably make some good - and some bad - choices, but our judgement will improve.  Ultimately, we will become confident in achieving a safer and healthier balance by incorporating small changes over time.