Food labelling: gluten free, organic etc.

SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I think perhaps if you removed money from the equation and organic and non-organic items were the same price and I said hey which one would you prefer-
This one that’s sprayed with chemicals that are strong enough to kill insects, oh and then it then grows in it, or this one without the chemicals?
I’m thinking most people would consider the one without the chemicals more appealing.
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I’m not so sure - I think a lot of people, at least when it comes to fruit and vegetables, shop as much with their eyes as they do their brains and pocketbooks.

Organic produce here, even when it’s relatively blemish-free, rarely looks anywhere near as…I’ll say “good” as the other stuff. Everything’s smaller, for a start. A lot smaller. If Average Shopper is looking at two apples the same price, and one’s the size of a tennis ball and the other’s half again as large…guess which one they’ll likely choose?

The reality, though, is that the organic stuff, here anyway, by and large looks like something on its last legs put out for quick sale before it goes into the trash bin. Brown, spotty, shriveled, half the size, malformed, oh and a third again as much for the privilege of looking like I’ve shopped from the dumpster? I don’t think so.

Every time I shop, I look at the green and red leaf lettuces (which aren’t wrapped), and the non-organic ones are usually full and fairly large, and cost about $2.50 a head.

Organic? Literally half the size, wilted and brown, and a dollar more. I check every time hoping to catch them on a good day. I’ll see the non-organic stuff worse for wear sometimes, but I never, ever see the organic ones looking anywhere near as good as the other. At best, it’ll be a tie, but they still lose out on size.
 
One of the issues with "organic" is that quite often there are no rules to back it up.
So my organic may not be yours.

I worked in the development of agro chemicals and they were tested thoroughly on safety before we even got them to test efficiacy.
I worked on the horticulture side (greenhouses) and no farmer there enjoyed spraying as it's not a nice job.
Most control took place biological in case of insects
And I am not sure what this has to do with a gluten free label, so I am going to shut up and drink my cider (labelled with "excessive alcohol consumption is harmfull to your health")
 
badjak said:
One of the issues with "organic" is that quite often there are no rules to back it up.
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Not true.

Organic has a legal definition in "1st world" countries, so there are very strict standards and the land has to have been organic for many years before food grown on it can be classified as organic.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Not true.

Organic has a legal definition in "1st world" countries, so there are very strict standards and the land has to have been organic for many years before food grown on it can be classified as organic.
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But perhaps where badjak lives that may not be the case?


I've no idea how accurate the quote below is. Its from the University of Queensland. Somewhat controversial...

the use of the term ‘organic’ on food products actually means that it has been produced using some sort of certified organic standards, which vary from scheme to scheme and nation to nation. In Australia, that is most commonly Australian Certified Organic, which is different to Bio-Dynamic Research Institute or Organic Food Chain for example.
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Organic food isn't pesticide-free - or better for the planet
 
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Correct ..
No regulations here that I know of.
And I am aware of labelling and different labels, but quite often there is also a discrepantie between what people think it means and what is actually means.
Example...
To me, a free range chicken is like a farm chicken that just runs wherever it can go. Thats the idea I have in my head.
However that is not necessarily the conditions that apply to the labelling (and those can differ per country)
 
badjak said:
Correct ..
No regulations here that I know of.
And I am aware of labelling and different labels, but quite often there is also a discrepantie between what people think it means and what is actually means.
Example...
To me, a free range chicken is like a farm chicken that just runs wherever it can go. Thats the idea I have in my head.
However that is not necessarily the conditions that apply to the labelling (and those can differ per country)
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Over here it simply means no in a battery cage and able to move about but the number of chickens allowed per square metre is mad!
 
TastyReuben said:
I’m not so sure - I think a lot of people, at least when it comes to fruit and vegetables, shop as much with their eyes as they do their brains and pocketbooks.

Organic produce here, even when it’s relatively blemish-free, rarely looks anywhere near as…I’ll say “good” as the other stuff. Everything’s smaller, for a start. A lot smaller. If Average Shopper is looking at two apples the same price, and one’s the size of a tennis ball and the other’s half again as large…guess which one they’ll likely choose?

The reality, though, is that the organic stuff, here anyway, by and large looks like something on its last legs put out for quick sale before it goes into the trash bin. Brown, spotty, shriveled, half the size, malformed, oh and a third again as much for the privilege of looking like I’ve shopped from the dumpster? I don’t think so.

Every time I shop, I look at the green and red leaf lettuces (which aren’t wrapped), and the non-organic ones are usually full and fairly large, and cost about $2.50 a head.

Organic? Literally half the size, wilted and brown, and a dollar more. I check every time hoping to catch them on a good day. I’ll see the non-organic stuff worse for wear sometimes, but I never, ever see the organic ones looking anywhere near as good as the other. At best, it’ll be a tie, but they still lose out on size.
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Not my experience of organic in the least.

I usually buy both organic and non organic according my personal criteria - what's better both quality wise and pricewise. Organic where I shop (here, UK, Europe) always looks as good as non organic/industriallly farmed. Granted, sometimes not as huge in size in the produce section, but most items are being sold by weight in any case, so you're not necessarily getting more for less, just seeing bigger items and that's another story.

Looking at it the other way around, if all the organic produce in your area is brown, wilted and nasty it's likely been sitting out for a long time and going bad as it's likely that the majority of your local co-shoppers are likeminded or economically less well off than other regions or both. From a business perspective, it would make sense either to rotate more often or stop selling altogether.

Some organic items are not that different from non organic, others there is a huge difference. And there is ample well documented evidence for a lot organic food and food production being better overall in many ways than large scale industrially and pharmaceutically produced food and farming methods.

It's not a black and white issue.
 
PS Mods: Before chopping this thread for off topic issues request to please consider broadening the title to something like
Food labelling : Gluten, organic, non-GMO and other categories

It's an important topic 😁
 
karadekoolaid said:
I've just had a long meeting with a marketing expert/entrepreneur. We were discussing my chutneys/hot sauces and he asked " are these products gluten free?"
( I thought "well of course they are; they're made with fresh fruit, vinegar and spices")
However, I asked "why is that important?" and he answered " it's like a flower to a bee - it attracts people. Discerning buyers will always look at a product that says "organic", "gluten free" or "vegan/vegetarian", regardless of whether they are gluten intolerant, vegan or vegetarian. It's become a trigger for people to buy things"
Great - I learned something new today.
The point is, on that coffee we've got the trigger words "organic" and "no artifical preservatives".
Interesting, eh?
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I wonder what ingredients in a chutney would have gluten. Gluten is found in grains.
 
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