Well, Is It Organic or Not? When it comes to personal care items like toothpaste and body lotion, claims like "made with organic ingredients" or "authentically organic" can flummox even the greenest consumer. No federal agency polices organic claims for personal care items - at least not yet - so manufacturers have been able to use these customer-pleasing terms loosely and liberally. But now Whole Foods Market is blowing the whistle. As of next June, the retailer will require all health and beauty products making organic claims to be certified by one of two sources: either the Agriculture Department's National Organic Program, which sets standards for food; or NSF International, a nonprofit based in Ann Arbor, Mich., that issues its own certification mark. The Agriculture Department has been enforcing organic claims on food sold in the United States since 2002, but does not do the same for other items. The agency does invite manufacturers of personal care products to apply for its National Organic Program label, but it does not go after them if they make unsubstantiated claims. The policy, announced June 18, is already shaking things up among companies that make - or claim to make - organic beauty items. Many of these companies rely on Whole Foods for the majority of their sales, so the new rule will have broad repercussions. "People aren't going to have two labels in the market, one for Whole Foods and one for everyone else," said David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a line of products (most of them soaps) sold in Whole Foods and certified as organic by the Agriculture Department. As a result, he said, the Whole Foods policy could become the de facto standard. Absolutely divine! With all of the creeping HFC products in products on Wholefoods' shelves its refreshing to see them raise the bar. How about those HFC's Wholefoods? Click here for more information >>> http://healthfreedoms.org/well-is-it-organic-or-not/