Organic food in supermarkets

System

Quasar, Carrageenan, one I avoid. Have noticed it in most toothpastes, Frijj milkshakes and Ben & Jerrys. Ben & Jerrys removed the "all natural" from their label because it was under pressure as some of the ingredients including Carrageenan were not argueable.


Was in morrisons again, noticed one of the organic tomatoes had mould one them, so didn't buy any. Looked for organic cabbage but they didn't have any. Got some british cabbage with the red tractor on it which I know Edwardia has praised so was satisfied with that. No other organic reports/reviews at the moment as couldn't find any.

Fire_Fox

Quasar wrote: »

I hope you are right . I don't consume much processed food anyway, organic or otherwise. However I've just seen that wikipedia does mention concerns on the part of scientists and some doctors. May be nothing, of course.
Second paragraph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan

Note that I am questioning the reference material not rubber stamping the ingredient itself. Like you and I think many on this thread, I aim primarily to eat foods with one or two ingredients, so my intake of additives is at a dull roar. Wikipedia is patchy, be careful it's not acceptable even at first year degree level. That article is one of the better ones but not scientifically referenced throughout. IMO go to the source of the science and judge for yourself - Google Scholar and PubMed are good search tools.

Sorry I am terrible at putting things in a nice way, believe it or not I do try. IRL it's fine because I am smiley and friendly and welcoming but that obviously doesn't come over on forums.

Edwardia

I was aware that carrageenan comes from seaweed and I'm no more keen on it than I am on xanthan gum, guar gum, organic brown rice syrup or organic potato starch. My main reason for this is because I want my food to be as additive free as possible.

http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=4lKnBZAUtQs%3d&tabid=353#page=36

PDF from The Soil Association shows the additives allowed in organic food at 40.8.6

Calcium carbonate is calcite, a basic component of chalk and limestone. Ascorbic acid is vitamin C. So if you go through the list and Google you'll find that many are not as bad as you think.

To me, what is more worrying, is that the EU has agreed that USDA organic standards are equivalent to EU standards and as far as I'm concerned they just blooming aren't. The USDA allows more pesticides and additives and for farmers to resort to using conventional stuff when organic is failing to kill pests or treat disease and still label as organic.

I switched from Sainsbury's SO organic mayonnaise to Abel & Cole's because Sainsbury's has gums in it. Because I am always trying to keep my sugar consumption minimal, I make my own dressings using organic olive oil, organic cider vinegar and other bits and pieces, more often now and have less mayo,

The less processed food you eat the fewer additives you get exposed to.

Quasar

I know most of the natural additives such as ascorbic acid, which are not derivated and fiddled with. I had never heard of carrageenan as I've never seen it as an additive in the extremely rare processed food I eat. I tend to stay away from anything that has additives anyway.

Edwardia

Quasar I think you may find carrageenan in ice cream and some yogurts.

OH eats more additives than I do because the deal brokered between us is he can have carbs at work but the only non veg carbs he is allowed at home are bread at weekends and Green & Black's organic chocolate ice cream when on offer. He is allowed food which is labelled organic or wild or that is additive free only but within that he can have what he wants...although I'm doing the buying

I think it is easy to get concerned about stuff in food, but that sometimes it's necessary to take a breath, step back and realise if you're eating mostly organic and few processed foods your exposure to pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, toxins and additives is generally far lower than people eating conventional food all of the time.

If you've taken most of the load off your liver, most likely it can handle a few additives here and there.

frugal_shopper_2

Edwardia wrote: »

To me, what is more worrying, is that the EU has agreed that USDA organic standards are equivalent to EU standards and as far as I'm concerned they just blooming aren't. The USDA allows more pesticides and additives and for farmers to resort to using conventional stuff when organic is failing to kill pests or treat disease and still label as organic.

Just because someone is not supposed to use a product it does not necessarily mean it is not used, just think back a few years to Colin Boswell at Mersley Farm/The Garlic Farm as it is better known who got fined 4 times the national average for pesticide abuses.
I can think of a couple of soil association approved organic producers in the UK who are frequently seen purchasing large quantities of agricultural grade glyphosate a few weeks before they are due to have an inspection, I would be very surprised if that didn't end up on their farms.

Gloria564

I was in a huge Tesco yesterday. It had a big poster up saying more organic food from a to zucchini but underneath when you looked the only organic produce pn the racks was broccoli and mushrooms - this in a 24/7 store

Edwardia

Hi Gloria564 welcome to the thread ! I was in a Tesco Extra 24/7 on a day trip to the seaside last summer and saw the same poster ! You did better than me because IIRC I found only spring onions...it was either that or spinach.

The only time when supermarkets are absolutely awash with organic fruit and veg on offer is what's called Organic September, championed by The Soil Association. If you can home freeze stuff or make pies, jam etc you are more likely to pick up stuff on offer or yellow-stickered than any other time of year.

And then in October.. back to usual..

frugal_shopper that's horrendous, especially using the organo-phosphate nerve agent on sweetcorn ! I don't think I'd want to buy his organic garlic just in case..eww..

And if you have names, dates, places for those organic growers please shop them. Glyphosate is the base of Roundup eww, Mind you I once went out with some Roundup in mistake for bugkiller in the dark. Did every plant in my garden. Realised my mistake, emailed a friend in California, spent four hours hosing my garden down.. and only lost the seedlings. Decided not to use chemicals after that !

Kirri

frugal_shopper wrote: »

Just because someone is not supposed to use a product it does not necessarily mean it is not used, just think back a few years to Colin Boswell at Mersley Farm/The Garlic Farm as it is better known who got fined 4 times the national average for pesticide abuses.
I can think of a couple of soil association approved organic producers in the UK who are frequently seen purchasing large quantities of agricultural grade glyphosate a few weeks before they are due to have an inspection, I would be very surprised if that didn't end up on their farms.

The Garlic Farm have never been organic though afaik, illegal pesticide use in the past if they use pesticides etc anyway is bad but not as though they misled organic shoppers in particular. How did you find out about the organic producers ^ buying glyphosate?

Quasar

Edwardia wrote: »

Quasar I think you may find carrageenan in ice cream and some yogurts.

OH eats more additives than I do because the deal brokered between us is he can have carbs at work but the only non veg carbs he is allowed at home are bread at weekends and Green & Black's organic chocolate ice cream when on offer. He is allowed food which is labelled organic or wild or that is additive free only but within that he can have what he wants...although I'm doing the buying

I think it is easy to get concerned about stuff in food, but that sometimes it's necessary to take a breath, step back and realise if you're eating mostly organic and few processed foods your exposure to pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, toxins and additives is generally far lower than people eating conventional food all of the time.

If you've taken most of the load off your liver, most likely it can handle a few additives here and there.

Little ice cream here is eaten, and no yoghurt is bought as I make my own kefir with organic milk. This is pretty much an additive-free household. :A

Ok, the odd exception now and then, but it's a very stretched now and then. My junk weakness is Nutella, but I've managed to have none of it for about 4 months.

Saying that, two or three times a month I eat out at middle-market restaurants as a mystery shopper. I have some leeway as to the dishes I can order, but often the main has to be meat, and so on. I always avoid fries and order a side salad instead, and things like that, but I know I'm not having organic or additve free stuff. Still, as Edwardia rightly says, it's not a daily hit.