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Full List of Non Organic Ingredients Allowed in Organic Food

Today I posted an article my cousin sent me on my Facebook wall. She had just read my post about Cornucopia Institute’s recent investigation dubbed the “Organic Watergate” (rightly so) and the harmful ingredient carrageenan that is allowed in organic foods. The article I posted was entitled 38 Non-Organic Ingredients Found in USDA Organic Foods. Although dated 2007, I found the reasons for allowing these ingredients to be fascinating. A majority of the foods were allowed because no other substitute from an organic supplier was widely available or for economic reasons. Majority of the foods were allowed only after companies submitted specific petitions to the USDA to include them.

Because the article was outdated a bit, I thought it would be prudent to easily make available the whole list of ingredients that are currently legally allowed in organic food. While most of the agriculture and non-synthetic substances are not harmful to your body – some of them along with synthetic ingredients do alter your body’s alkalinity, making you more acidic. This matters, because an alkaline body avoids disease, repair cells, and removes free radicals/toxins more effectively.

I could spend days discussing each ingredient, but one synthetic ingredient that jumped out at me is cellulose – otherwise known as wood pulp. The amount of cellulose food companies can put in your food is not regulated by the FDA. Cellulose is used as filler to processed foods because it doesn’t contain calories or fat content and is cheap. Some common products that contain it are frozen waffles, shredded cheese, and salad dressings. Your body simply cannot use this ingredient at all nutritionally and lacks the enzymes to digest it. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to eat things that my system can’t process. I can’t believe companies are allowed to sell food we can’t even digest as humans!

This list hopefully serves as a reminder why it is so incredibly important to avoid overly processed foods even when they are certified organic and to check every single label on everything you buy. The products I share and support on my shop and the ones I use on a daily basis rarely if ever contain any of the below ingredients. And for the record I will ALWAYS choose an organic product vs. a conventional one.

I obtained this list from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations ECFR and is current as of May 22, 2012. Please feel free to share it how ever you like.

You can view all the other ingredients that are allowed in actual production of organic products here, don’t get too crazy looking at that list either.

 

Full List of Non-Organic Ingredients Allowed in Organic Food

* List provided by Electronic Code of Federal Regulations – May 22, 2012

Non-Organic Agriculture Products Allowed:

  • Casings, from processed intestines.
  • Celery powder.
  • Chia ( Salvia hispanica L. ).
  • Colors derived from agricultural products.
  • Annatto extract color—water and oil soluble.
  • Beet juice extract color
  • Beta-carotene extract color, derived from carrots
  • Black currant juice color
  • Black/Purple carrot juice color
  • Blueberry juice color
  • Carrot juice color
  • Cherry juice color
  • Chokeberry—Aronia juice color
  • Elderberry juice color
  • Grape juice color
  • Grape skin extract color
  • Paprika color —dried, and oil extracted.
  • Pumpkin juice color
  • Purple potato juice
  • Red cabbage extract color
  • Red radish extract color
  • Saffron extract color
  • Turmeric extract color
  • Dillweed oil
  • Fish oil —stabilized with organic ingredients or only with ingredients on the National List
  • Fortified cooking wines.
  • Marsala.
  • Sherry.
  • Fructooligosaccharides
  • Galangal, frozen.
  • Gelatin
  • Gums—water extracted only (Arabic; Guar; Locust bean; and Carob bean).
  • Hops ( Humulus luplus ).
  • Inulin-oligofructose enriched
  • Kelp—for use only as a thickener and dietary supplement.
  • Konjac flour
  • Lecithin—de-oiled.
  • Lemongrass—frozen.
  • Orange pulp, dried.
  • Orange shellac-unbleached
  • Pectin (high-methoxy).
  • Peppers (Chipotle chile).
  • Seaweed, Pacific kombu.
  • Starches.
  • Cornstarch (native).
  • Rice starch, unmodified —for use in organic handling until June 21, 2009.
  • Sweet potato starch—for bean thread production only.
  • Tragacanth gum
  • Turkish bay leaves.
  • Wakame seaweed ( Undaria pinnatifida ).
  • Whey protein concentrate

Non-Synthetic Allowed:

  • Acids (Alginic; Citric—produced by microbial fermentation of carbohydrate substances; and Lactic).
  • Agar-agar.
  • Animal enzymes—(Rennet—animals derived; Catalase—bovine liver; Animal lipase; Pancreatin; Pepsin; and Trypsin).
  • Bentonite.
  • Calcium carbonate.
  • Calcium chloride.
  • Calcium sulfate—mined.
  • Carrageenan.
  • Dairy cultures.
  • Diatomaceous earth—food filtering aid only.
  • Egg white lysozyme
  • Enzymes—must be derived from edible, nontoxic plants, nonpathogenic fungi, or nonpathogenic bacteria.
  • Flavors, nonsynthetic sources only and must not be produced using synthetic solvents and carrier systems or any artificial preservative.
  • Gellan gum —high-acyl form only.
  • Glucono delta-lactone—production by the oxidation of D-glucose with bromine water is prohibited.
  • Kaolin.
  • L-Malic acid
  • Magnesium sulfate, nonsynthetic sources only.
  • Microorganisms—any food grade bacteria, fungi, and other microorganism.
  • Nitrogen—oil-free grades.
  • Oxygen—oil-free grades.
  • Perlite—for use only as a filter aid in food processing.
  • Potassium chloride.
  • Potassium iodide.
  • Sodium bicarbonate.
  • Sodium carbonate.
  • Tartaric acid—made from grape wine.
  • Waxes—nonsynthetic (Carnauba wax; and Wood resin).
  • Yeast—nonsynthetic, growth on petrochemical substrate and sulfite waste liquor is prohibited (Autolysate; Bakers; Brewers; Nutritional; and Smoked—nonsynthetic smoke flavoring process must be documented)

Synthetics Allowed:

  • Acidified sodium chlorite—Secondary direct antimicrobial food treatment and indirect food contact surface sanitizing. Acidified with citric acid only.
  • Activated charcoal —only from vegetative sources; for use only as a filtering aid.
  • Alginates.
  • Ammonium bicarbonate—for use only as a leavening agent.
  • Ammonium carbonate—for use only as a leavening agent.
  • Ascorbic acid.
  • Calcium citrate.
  • Calcium hydroxide.
  • Calcium phosphates (monobasic, dibasic, and tribasic).
  • Carbon dioxide.
  • Cellulose—for use in regenerative casings, as an anti-caking agent (non-chlorine bleached) and filtering aid.
  • Chlorine materials—disinfecting and sanitizing food contact surfaces, Except, That, residual chlorine levels in the water shall not exceed the maximum residual disinfectant limit under the Safe Drinking Water Act (Calcium hypochlorite; Chlorine dioxide; and Sodium hypochlorite).
  • Cyclohexylamine —for use only as a boiler water additive for packaging sterilization.
  • Diethylaminoethanol —for use only as a boiler water additive for packaging sterilization.
  • Ethylene—allowed for postharvest ripening of tropical fruit and degreening of citrus.
  • Ferrous sulfate—for iron enrichment or fortification of foods when required by regulation or recommended (independent organization).
  • Glycerides (mono and di)—for use only in drum drying of food.
  • Glycerin—produced by hydrolysis of fats and oils.
  • Hydrogen peroxide.
  • Magnesium carbonate—for use only in agricultural products labeled “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s)),” prohibited in agricultural products labeled “organic”.
  • Magnesium chloride—derived from sea water.
  • Magnesium stearate—for use only in agricultural products labeled “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s)),” prohibited in agricultural products labeled “organic”.
  • Nutrient vitamins and minerals, in accordance with 21 CFR 104.20, Nutritional Quality Guidelines For Foods.
  • Octadecylamine —for use only as a boiler water additive for packaging sterilization.
  • Ozone.
  • Pectin (low-methoxy).
  • Peracetic acid/Peroxyacetic acid —for use in wash and/or rinse water according to FDA limitations. For use as a sanitizer on food contact surfaces.
  • Phosphoric acid—cleaning of food-contact surfaces and equipment only.
  • Potassium acid tartrate.
  • Potassium carbonate.
  • Potassium citrate.
  • Potassium hydroxide—prohibited for use in lye peeling of fruits and vegetables except when used for peeling peaches during the Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) production process.
  • Potassium iodide—for use only in agricultural products labeled “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s)),” prohibited in agricultural products labeled “organic”.
  • Potassium phosphate—for use only in agricultural products labeled “made with organic (specific ingredients or food group(s)),” prohibited in agricultural products labeled “organic”.
  • Silicon dioxide.
  • Sodium acid pyrophosphate —for use only as a leavening agent.
  • Sodium citrate.
  • Sodium hydroxide—prohibited for use in lye peeling of fruits and vegetables.
  • Sodium phosphates—for use only in dairy foods.
  • Sulfur dioxide—for use only in wine labeled “made with organic grapes,” Provided, That, total sulfite concentration does not exceed 100 ppm.
  • Tartaric acid—made from malic acid.
  • Tetrasodium pyrophosphate (CAS # 7722–88–5)—for use only in meat analog products.
  • Tocopherols—derived from vegetable oil when rosemary extracts are not a suitable alternative.
  • Xanthan gum

Oh and btw – Pacific Natural Foods (the company who makes the Almond milk I used to buy) responded to me in regards to carrageenan in their products. They are reviewing the recent studies on the possible side effects and will make an informed decision once they do. If you are interested in their letter, I’ve pasted it below…hooray for companies paying attention!

Given recent coverage regarding the safety of Carrageenan in food, we understand your concerns over what this may mean for the health of your family.

There is much confusion surrounding food-grade Carrageenan and degraded Carrageenan, also known as Poligeenan, which is a chemically derived extract of Carrageenan. Poligeenan is created through a process called acid hydrolysis and because of this chemical process Poligeenan is considered toxic to the human body. Pacific Natural foods uses only food-grade Carrageenan.

Carrageenan is a natural stabilizer derived from red seaweed. The seaweed is gathered, quickly dried and baled to maintain quality. At the manufacturing site, the dried seaweed is ground and sieved to eliminate impurities, such as salt and sand. Following extensive washing, the seaweed undergoes a hot extraction process to separate the Carrageenan from the extraneous plant fiber.

When we develop products, our goal is to capture all of the health and nutrition nature has to offer. We use no unnecessary ingredients – each is selected to serve a purpose. We use Carrageenan as it’s an effective way to naturally “stabilize” our non-dairy beverages – it is fundamental in preventing natural separation, clumping and the settling of ingredients.

As a leader in natural and organic food for 25 years, we’re constantly searching for the safest, highest quality ingredients. Through our Certified to the Source program, we work with our suppliers to rigorously track all of our ingredients to ensure their integrity. We have been assured by our suppliers that the Carrageenan we source has not been contaminated with degraded Carrageenan (Poligeenan) and is safe for consumption.

We take seriously the additional claims made around what happens to the Carrageenan once digested. In light of this new focus on possible side effects, we are in the process of reviewing the publicly available studies and consulting with other industry experts. We will make an informed decision as we review all of the data.

We are eager to learn more about this issue and are appreciative that you have reached out to us with your concerns. It is important to us that your food not only tastes great, but is good for you. We want you to be as confident as we are in what you are consuming.

We hope this is helpful for you. Should you have additional questions please message me directly.

Be part of the change, if you know someone who could use this information- please share it with them!

Thanks for all your support,

Food Babe

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70 responses to “Full List of Non Organic Ingredients Allowed in Organic Food

  1. Hi, Vani. (This is Alissa’s hubby….left out my last name.) This is an interesting, and quite extensive, list. While I’m not hard-core about food choices, I do like to make smart, obvious choices for better products here and there. Organic meats and dairy are top of my list. Anyway, what drew me in to comment, was your opinion about cellulose. While I don’t know much about it, I was curious if you knew whether products which the body cannot identify and digest are actually harmful or not? My expectation is that they would simply pass through. I use sucralose quite a bit, which is an example of another product which the body can’t digest. I assumed that since it would pass right through, that it was not harmful. Do you have any thoughts about that? (Here’s a Discover Magazine article which talks about the chemistry of sweeteners: http://discovermagazine.com/2005/aug/chemistry-of-artificial-sweeteners).

    1. Hi Dave! Great to hear from you, what a great question! Passing through is one way to say it… Unfortunately it’s not that simple. Cellulose specifically has a lot of fiber in it, so it technically can count for some of the fiber grams you see on food labels. This is obviously misleading considering that you want to get fiber that you can actually absorb and benefit from, from the food you eat. The FDA mentions on their site that consuming cellulose can have a laxative effect…Not to state the obvious, but you don’t want to be going to the bathroom, before your body has absorbed the nutrients from your food (this is one of the things that causes your body to be acidic vs. alkaline when consuming additives like these). This laxative effect along with other gastrointestinal problems have also been noted in consuming some types of artificial sugars – like mannitol, inulin, sorbitol, etc. I personally never consume sucralose because it is highly chemically processed with chlorine. My low calorie sweetener of choice is organic stevia leaf and it tastes great. Here’s some info on sucralose if you are interested. http://www.downtoearth.org/health/vitamins-supplements/sucralose-dangerous-sugar-substitute Good Luck! Hope to see you guys soon. Please give Alissa and kids my best.

      1. Sugar alcohols such as mannitol and sorbitol only contribute to gastrointestinal issues when consumed in high quantities. How much gum are you eating? I am a health nut, but you should really be more specific with your information. Such as how sucralose is made. I agree that it’s bad stuff, but really replacing 3 OH groups with Cl groups is hardly heavily chemically processed compared to other things going on with out food.

    2. A microbiologist friend of mine told me she took a biochemistry lab where they simulated the chemical reactions that happen when artificial sugars are ingested into the body…they found that aspartame breaks down into formic acid & formaldehyde, and the 6-carbon ring of sucralose (sugar attached to chlorine) pops open and is therefore able to react with other chemicals in the body, acting as an acid. Anyone who has taken organic chemistry can figure out the significance of this kind of reaction in the body. The idea of artificial ingredients passing through unscathed is a nice one, but the people making the decisions about what is safe seem to neglect the biochemical process of what is happening. These chemicals might have been deemed “safe” in a clinical trial because they didn’t cause any overt symptoms immediately, but it can often take years for the damage to accumulate to the point where it is obvious.

  2. I just found your site and am both fascinated and disgusted that we can’t trust our food sourfces – even organic!
    I did not buy any almond milk this week since all the brands available at my local market had Carrageenan listed as an ingredient.
    Thank you for reminding me why I spend the extra money to buy organic.
    Will you go back to Pacific Naturals?
    Thanks again.
    Kim

    1. Mmmm… probably not, it’s just too easy to make almond milk. I’ll be making coconut milk soon too and posting a recipe – stay tuned! And thanks for finding me 🙂

      1. Almond milk is fairly easy to make, but it does take me upwards of half an hour and I only get enough for 3 days MAX. It’s not nearly as cost efficient and since I make a smoothie every day I usually only get enough almond milk for 2 days. Any other suggestions on where I can get almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, etc without carrageenan?

    2. Just to let you know I use almond milk as well. I use the the silk & it doesn’t have carrageenan listed. I had checked into pacific& noticed carrageenan is listed in there when I pulled it up online. I was checking because I know the silk is GMO free not organic so I wanted to check out other products & came across this. Just wanted to share

    3. I noticed in this article the distinction made between “degraded” and “non-degraded” carrageenan. Studies show there is no good or acceptable carrageenan. I hope the author does further research. Carrageenan is a known carcinogen and causes ulcerative colitis (among other inflammatory responses currently being studied) in humans and other animals. I will not ingest carrageenan or even use beauty products containing carrageenan. Please research the fallacy that only degraded carrageenan is harmful. I hope this is helpful.

  3. thanks for posting this list. Its surprising how many ingredients could easily be organic, particularly all the colors, and if they are allowed to be non-organic, there’s no incentive for organic producers to use organic versions and therefore no market for farmers to produce organic versions. I think each of those ingredients should have a timeframe to transition to organic only. Anyway, I agree with your advice to avoid processed foods in general, because even organic processed food may not be very good for our bodies.

  4. I am wondering if anyone knows, I have vitamins that contain vegetable flour cellulose. Is this the same thing as regular cellulose – or wood pulp? I am trying to find some vitamins that don’t contain this, but so far, no luck.

  5. I am allergic to carragean and am very happyto see you reporting on it. I get ocular migranes, the next day and must then drink a lot of water to flush the stuff out

    1. I have recently discovered that I am also allergic/sensitive to carragean. I was thought to be lactose intolerant – but am able to drink organic whole milk with no problems!.. so I was highly confused. After a little “experimenting”, I only react to dairy containing carragean.. and you cannot believe the amounts of organic items containing it!

  6. Seriously?? How is this allowed. Is there no food safe anymore?? Thank you for sharing this info! We desperately need a food revolution.

  7. I was hoping you could help me contact the manufacturers of my family’s favorite milk substitute – Flax Milk by Good Karma, which lists carrageenan as one of the ingredients. We used it in many of our recipes until I have noticed your post on this particular stabilizer. Any help will be appreciated, but I figured you have much more experience with this kind of social action.

    Cheers,
    Olya~

  8. I questioned the makers of my favorite creamer, So Delicious Coconut Milk Hazelnut creamer about their use of carrageenan and received to no response. It’s nice to see some companies value their customer base enough to respond.

  9. Under the “Non-Organic Agriculture Products Allowed:” column things are listed like celery powder and carrot juice color. Is there anything wrong with those ingredients. A lot of ingredients on that list look like they would be fine. How do I find out which ones are bad and why?

    1. I understood that list to be stuff that isn’t organic, but might still show up in food that is organic. In other words, it may not be the item itself, but that it would contain pesticide residue, etc.

  10. Pacific makes the only chicken broth I can find that is MSG free…or the likes of MSG and man oh man is it hard to find in Ontario, not living in a large centre

  11. Hi Vani!
    So I actually have a question concerning Stash teas. Some of them have citric acid listed in the ingredient list? Do you have any idea if it’s GMO? I should probably contact the company and ask. Even if it’s not GMO, is necessarily bad?

  12. You’re information is phenomenal so thank you! I am studying to be a holistic health coach and cannot get enough of this information. I made almond milk last week since I couldn’t find a brand w.o careenagan. Any brands out there?! Thank you!

  13. Almond milk is so easy to make from scratch, all you need is 24hrs – 3 dates (to sweeten) cinnamon stick (flavor and optional) and 1 cup almonds to soak overnight- get cinnamon stick out of the soak, then blend in a blender, then strain and you will have full control of what your almond milk contains!

    1. Thanks for this. It simplifies making Almond Milk. I was overwhelmed at the thought.

      1. Hey there,
        I have made almond milk a few times, you don’t have to use either one if u don’t want to and it’s still amazing, but if you do you are supposed to blend the dates to sweeten the milk and the cinnamon stick probably won’t have any more flavor after that. After soaking discard this water and use about 2 or 3 cups of water ( depends how thick you like) then strain it. I use a cheese cloth it reminds of milking a cow hahaha.
        The last time I made it was for smoothies with A LOT of greens and other super foods so it didn’t bother at all, then I had so much more milk.
        Last I had a great idea for the almonds that have been strained, I use it as ALMOND FLOUR even been moist it works wonderfully. Even been in the fridge any of this don’t last more then 4 days. So don’t make it to much ( the strained almond you can freeze it and use it later. No problem!
        Ps. Left over almond can also be used to make body scrub.
        Hope I was able to help!

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  15. armers who grow organic produce and meat don’t use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weedkillers, organic farmers may conduct more sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay. ^….:

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  17. Okay, so what does all this mean? I gave up wheat and then dairy a few months ago. I was thrilled to find the So Delicious Coconut Milk coffee creamer–but I’m confused. Is this stuff safe or not? It has carrageenan in it, so I’m guessing it’s not. Might as well just give up coffee now.

    1. I know Brooke – it can be overwhelming. It is sometimes tough to find non-dairy milk and creamer without carrageenan but there are some out there. Good luck!

  18. One of the most remarkable properties of xanthan gum is its ability to produce a large increase in the viscosity of a liquid by adding a very small quantity of gum, on the order of one percent. In most foods, it is used at 0.5%, and can be used in lower concentrations. *;::

    Good day
    http://www.healthmedicinedigest.co/

  19. Hi Vani, I just recently watched you chatting with Marie Forleo, that was great by the way. You talked about the 5 health foods that we should not eat. Carrageenan was one of them. I was inspired to read your blog and learn more. In viewing this one I see you have a letter asking manufactures to stop using carrageenan in their products. I would like to copy it and send it to Organic Valley if you haven’t already done so, if that is okay with you. I do not want to infringe on you by just doing it without your blessing. Or better yet if you would like to send it to them. Organic Valley has a lot of great products that I love and use and want to continue to use, but not at the risk of my health. Let me know if you are cool with that.

  20. Silk Almond Milk Distributed by WhiteWave Foods, Broomfield, CO does not contain Carrageenan. My only gripe is that it contains Cane Sugar. It seems that we sometimes need to weigh the lessor of two evils.

  21. Silk produces an unsweetened almond milk. My health coach recommends not using any sweeter at all, but to allow fruit to be my sweeter. I have been using unsweetened Silk for a while and although it can have a bitter bite or after taste when drank plain I find assurance in that I am not raising sugar levels in me nor am I adding calories to my all ready large frame. One cup is only 30 calories.

  22. You have a very detailed website. It’s great. However, I’m getting very frustrated because I cannot print this article: on the full list of non organic ingredients allowed in organic foods. Only your picture comes out and not the rest of the article. Also when I went to print another article : on the secret behind gatorade and how to replenish electrolytes, only page two came out. The other pages would not print. I never have had any other issues on printing with any other website except yours. I printed it a couple of times and it came out the same. You don’t have a printing icon on the top of your page either. What should I do? Thank-You for your help. Sincerely, Diane

  23. Here is the response I received today from Pacific Foods regarding their continued use of carrageenan. No longer any mention of conducting any reviews, etc. Sadly, I have been giving this product to my daughter for over a year.

    Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Carrageenan is a natural stabilizer derived from red seaweed. The seaweed is gathered, quickly dried and baled to maintain quality. At the manufacturing site, the dried seaweed is ground and sieved to eliminate impurities, such as salt and sand. Following extensive washing, the seaweed undergoes a hot extraction process to separate the Carrageenan from the extraneous plant fiber.

    There is much confusion surrounding food-grade Carrageenan and Poligeenan which is a chemically derived extract of Carrageenan. Through a process called Acid hydrolysis, Poligeenan is created and because of this chemical process Poligeenan is considered toxic to the human body. Pacific Natural foods does not use Poligeenan in any of our products.

    At Pacific Natural Foods it is important to us that your food not only tastes great, but is also good for you. Our delicious recipes capture all the health, vitality and nutrition nature has to offer. We hope this information is helpful and if you should have additional questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

    Kind regards,

    Shannon Wiwatowski
    Consumer Affairs Coordinator

  24. I read the list of non- organic ingredients allowed in organice food, etc. What if any of these are organic? Can they then be used safely? Or arenall of these items non-organic by nature and can’t ever be organic as they have to be processed to gef to that state?

    1. I have the same question! I want desperately to know if in very small percentages are they really bad for the body?

  25. Question: can you put out a sheet on vitamins? I take ‘Alive’ vitamins and want to know if they are ‘safe’… it is hard to find ‘good ones’ that are small in size (I tend to choke) or gummy type.

  26. Vani. If it’s U.S.D.A. certified toxin free is that any better or could there be toxins in it as well? Thanks for ALL you do!!!

  27. My hubbie came home proudly displaying his box of organic cereal, Cascadian Farms organic , cinnamon crunch. I immediately read the label and announced sugar was the second ingredient and then followed by DEXTROSE, SOY LECHITHIN, MALTODEXTRIN….how can that be? I didn’t see these on the allowed list above? It is so discouraging thinking you can believe a label, I usually do not even have cereal in the house but he insists!
    Thanks for all that you do to clean up our world. Love your FB alerts and info.

    1. Hi Marcia,
      Cascading Farms to General Mills if not mistaken, so they just do minimum required by law to be organic to make more profit.
      I do not purchase Any organic product that belongs to Big companies like that, Horizon Organic and etc… ( you can google about that and you wil find info on wich brands aren’t solely organic)
      I hope I was able to help!

  28. Hi Vani,

    Your site gives tons of useful information. Thanks for spending so much time on all these items.

    Recently, I started checking products with Carrageenan as I’m having severe acid reflux etc (I want to understand what goes into my body – I don’t want to eat anything that has ingredients which are unknown to me :))

    I found that IN-N-OUT milk shakes has Carrageenan. Also, most of the ice creams (vegetarian ones too – zee foods/Nirvana) also has Carrageenan.

    I called IN-N-OUT and requested them to stop using Carrageenan. Would be great if you could follow-up with these companies, as you would have a say, for sure!!!

    Thank you

  29. Hey Vani, could you tell me what’s so bad about pectin? One of my usual snacks is slathering a brown rice cracker with peanut butter and then black raspberry jelly (black raspberries, sugar, pectin). It’s nice because both the rice cracker and peanut butter have only 1-2 ingredients, though there’s the pectin in the jelly which I’m kind of confused about. I was just curious if there was anything relatively dangerous about pectin or something… Thanks! Oh and if you couldn’t tell I’m pretty new to all of this organic stuff, so cut me some slack please. 😛

  30. Today at a family dinner the discussion of organic, Non-GMO, whole foods, etc came up. From following your blog I know that just because something is organic does not mean it’s super healthy. When choosing between items labeled organic vs one labeled Non-GMO, I always choose organic. I’ve been under the assumption that organic implies Non-GMO. I cannot find that information anywhere, so now I’m not sure. I was hoping to find a definition on the FDA website, or an article somewhere confirming my assumption, but I can’t find anything. Now I’m second guessing myself. If you have any information clearing up this matter I would appreciate it!!

  31. Just fumbled upn this and understand most of it and anxious to understand what I don’t. Glad to see you addressing the Carrageenan. My son started getting migraines at school and it didn’t take me long to tie it to the flavored milk they were serving even though the cafeteria staff didn’t believe me. I had to get a doctor note stating he needed juice or water instead (juice was not real juice) due to that issue. So many things to be aware of..Thanks for the insight,

  32. I met a paper scientist on a plane trip back home. He told me about cellulose and how it was bassivally used in everything. He was not happy about what his industry is doing to our country. For example, killing our trees, polluting our rivers and now creating a toxic product being heavily consumed by the masses. What was the most interesting bit of information he shared was about the lignin extraction process. The acid used to process the wood chips to pulp creates a byproduct called blac liquor. This mterial has been known to cause cancer. He said that this is what no one is talking about. They say the extraction process is supposed to clean all of that out, but how do you know. Just thought id share this info. Ive seen your awareness video about cellulose, i think people should know about the process as well. Keep up the good fight.

  33. I suspected an organic potato I purchased at a local Earth Fare had been gassed with ethylene when I reacted to it. I am allergic to corn and corn derivatives, with ethylene being one of the worst offenders. Seeing that on this list confirmed my suspicions about “organic” not necessarily being “clean” enough for me. Thanks for all your work.

  34. Well, carrageenan is known to become acidic in the body and is an ingredient that people suffering acif reflux need to be aware of. I don’t care how interested a company seems to be in their ingredients. If they were doing their job, they’d pull ingredients like that and say, “sorry”, instead of trying to justify using horrible substances. I don’t care if it comes from the breath of the gods, once it’s processed, it’s over!

  35. Hi Vani, thanks for all the useful info, its great to get this, whenever I can, I eat Organic and GMO free, but its not always the easiest thing to do, especially on a limited budget.

  36. I bought a jar of Green@Blacks organic hot chocolate and just noticed they use Potassium carbonate and they claim that all chocolate makers have been using for 180 years , but the side effects include :
    uneven heartbeat, tiredness, weakness, heavy feeling in your legs,severe stomach pain cramping,bloody stools.
    Some more: ammonium carbonate ,disodium diphosphate and sodium carbonate found in high quality biscuits ,they are all toxic and used in detergents as well as baking !
    So disgusting , just want to live on my own island and live off its natural produce.

  37. Calcium hydroxide is listed as a synthetic ingredient but I believe this need to be updated. Calcium hydroxide is produced from lime which occurs naturally. It is also known as pickling lime and has been used for centuries. My family has used it when making jelly so as to make the fruit being used to hold its shape and firmness during processing. Please update the list if necessary. Thanks

  38. Hi Vani! Thank you for all your hard work!!
    I have a question, I’m a bit confused. So any organic Non-GMO product that has any of these ingredients it’s no really “clean”?? I mean, I do buy all organic and preferably if they are Non GMO too, I have little ones and I’m very careful on reading labels. But some of the candies or chocolates you suggested have for example Soy Lecithin or Citric Acid. So I do not understand if I have to avoid complete all of these ingredients.
    THANK YOU!!!

  39. Is there an updated list closer to 2022?

    Also, I’ve searched Food Babes website and FB page. Has she ever posted specifically on mixed tocopherols?

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