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By: Bobby Bennett
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How do I verify that a product advertising the USDA organic label is valid? How do I know if they are claiming the product is USDA organic certified by using the label when it is not organic? There should be a USDA organic database that I can enter the company and product who is using the emblem to verify that it is valid. For example, Mario Pitted Organic Kalamata Olives uses the USDA organic emblem. How do I know if they are truly certified?
The "USDA Organic" seal does not correspond to a centralized "certification" of any type.
The National Organic Program (NOP) develops all the rules & regulations related to organic food production.
From the USDA's page on organic labeling enforcement:
Enforcement is a vital part of the global organic control system. By law, organic certification and enforcement in the United States is a public-private partnership. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP) accredits and oversees 80+ organizations, called certifiers. Certifiers verify and document the claims of more than 37,000 organic farms and businesses around the world.
The decentralized public-private cooperative on enforcement means that generating a single, complete, definitive database is not a simple challenge--and one that the USDA has simply not undertaken (or at least they have not made it publicly available). Information on the NOP's enforcement activity is available online, but this centers around violations, not certifications.
The organic labeling programs in the US depend on the public having confidence in the USDA/NOP's enforcement activity, in combination with trust in the food producer's honesty in labeling. The primary method for ensuring compliance is essentially threat of fines, which are intended to be a deterrent for fraudulent labeling.