Non-Food Organic? What?!

Q: I’ve seen things state they are certified organic, but are not food. Is this real or am I being lied to?

A: Taking into consideration that I do not know the item(s) you are referencing, the simple answer is: if there is a provable organic certification on an item that is not food, then you are not being lied to!

Non-food and non-grown items can be certified through their process. An example would be Baking Soda / Sodium Bicarbonate. This is a mineral. This can be certified by making the process —extraction and production— adhere to the organic standards.

But, if you just see the “word” organic on something without the certified logo, then you should be highly skeptical. Definitely look into the item and contact the company to prove this claim. The process (or ingredients) they are using might follow organic standards or be certified organic, but the item they have made is not certified.

I suggest you look into it no matter what. Because certifications do expire, and companies do promote false claims to trick consumers into buying their goods and services.

Again, you are not being lied to when you see such a logo on a non-food, non-grown item. This can most certainly happen.

Here is a link to the USDA’s Organic Integrity Database: https://organic.ams.usda.gov/integrity. You will be able to find any- and everything that is or has been certified as organic.

A stinger for you to leave on:

An item can be certified Organic, but the packaging isn’t part of the certification process. That is why you see certified items that are wrapped in plastic. Which (almost always) defeats the purpose of having an item certified as the packaging will do the harm to the environment that the certification aims to reduce and remove.