Safety groups criticize changes to federal organic program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is changing the way it runs its program to certify organic foods, and consumer safety groups aren’t happy.

Environmentalists and safety advocates are charging that the change makes it easier for artificial ingredients to make their way into foods that are marked as all-natural.

The USDA lets companies label their foods as organic if they meet a set of production and handling standards.

Before the policy change, substances that would not normally be allowed in organic foods could be included for a five-year period as a way to encourage food producers to try new organic alternatives. The substances could stay for longer if 15-member USDA advisory board signed off.

The new policy eliminated that five-year deadline, known as the sunset period, and automatically allows otherwise exempt substances to be approved for use indefinitely unless they are blocked by a two-thirds majority of the advisory board.

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