Is Organic Food Safer Than Conventional Food?

Below are some of my thoughts on the New York Times article “It’s Organic, but Does That Mean It’s Safer?” by Kim Severson and Andrew Martin which was published on March 3, 2009.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/dining/04cert.html  

Contrary to popular belief, certified organic food products are not necessarily safer than their non-organic counterparts.  While organic certification does require compliance to a series of federal regulations, it does not depend on the adherence to basic food safety standards.  In addition the regulation of the organic certification process is flawed at best.

Although the origins of the organic food movement were based on a more natural and inherently honest relationship between farmer and consumer, the organic movement and those tasked with certifying organic products have, at least in some cases, succumb to greed over the welfare of the consumer.  The certification process contains flaws that leave it susceptible to unscrupulous, short sighted and greedy certification agents.  As an example, the article points to the peanut butter recall of the Peanut Corporation of America’s products due to a salmonella outbreak that claimed the lives of nine individuals and caused almost 700 to become ill, despite the companies organic certification.  Although the Peanut Corporation of America did not posses a state health certificate, the state worker who served as the organic certifier of the plant allowed the company to keep its certification.  The fact that organic certification agents are paid directly by the companies they certify appear to be a root cause of the problem.  Although the plant finally lost their certification and the state worker was fired, it was only after the massive and fatal salmonella outbreak about seven months after the discovery of the original violation.

This article also brings to light that organic certification does not translate to increased food safety.  Only after the outbreak did the acting director of the USDA’s National Organics Program, Barbara Robinson, issue a directive ordering organic certification organizations to look beyond pesticide levels and crop management techniques and repot health violations to the appropriate agency.

In my view, this article demonstrates that the certification process needs to be re-examined.  In addition to insuring that organic products meet federal organic standards it is essential that those products satisfy or surpass food safety standards.  Also, the compensation of certification agents need to be structured in such a way as to promote objectivity and eliminate the incentive for inspectors to turn a blind eye to violations.  Harsh penalties, including incarceration, should also be instituted for corrupt or lazy certification agents allowing companies to produce unsafe food products, especially in cases where the actions, or inactions, of the inspectors results in harm or death to consumers.