Good morning!
Walk into any grocery store and “organic” reads like a promise. It signals something cleaner, more intentional, maybe even closer to how food should be. For a lot of people, choosing organic is a thoughtful decision, one that reflects care for their health, their family, and the environment.
Now imagine you're standing in the grocery store, holding two containers of pasta sauce. One has a small USDA Organic seal. The other says "Made with Organic Ingredients" in large letters across the front. They're both labeled organic.
They both look organic. They both sound organic. But are they the same thing? Actually… no.
Key Takeaways
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“Organic” isn’t one standard, it’s four tiers (100%, 95%, 70%, <70%), and that percentage directly controls labeling, allowed ingredients, and whether the USDA seal appears.
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Certification is process-driven and strictly regulated: farms must follow defined rules and undergo inspections, though very small producers can bypass certification.
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Organic doesn’t guarantee how food is grown or its nutrient profile, hydroponic (soil-free) systems can qualify, and evidence on whether organic is nutritionally superior remains mixed.
CORE
The Organic Label Has Tiers (Of Course It Does)
At its core, organic certification is about how food is grown and processed. It restricts the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and certain additives. That foundation is meaningful, and for many products, it reflects a higher standard of production. The USDA organic certification has four distinct categories. They read incredibly similar, but mean very different things:
"100% Organic" means every single ingredient is certified organic. No exceptions. These products can display the USDA organic seal.
"Organic" (or "USDA Organic") means at least 95% of ingredients are certified organic. The remaining 5% can be non-organic agricultural products, but only if they're not commercially available in organic form, or if they're specific non-agricultural substances approved on the National List (things like baking soda or pectin). These products can also display the USDA seal.
"Made with Organic [ingredients]" means at least 70% of ingredients are certified organic. The product must specify which ingredients or ingredient categories are organic (up to three), like "Made with Organic Tomatoes, Peppers, and Onions." These products cannot use the USDA seal and cannot claim the final product itself is organic, only that specific ingredients are.
Less than 70% organic can only list organic ingredients in the ingredient panel. No organic claims allowed on the front of the package. No USDA seal.
The percentage matters because it changes what the non-organic portion is allowed to be. In the “Made with Organic Ingredients” category (70%+ organic), the remaining ingredients can be non-organic but must still come from approved food-safe ingredients allowed under USDA rules. In the “Organic” category (95%+ organic), the remaining 5% is more tightly limited to a specific list of approved substances that can only be used when an organic version isn’t available.
What "Organic" Actually Requires
To be certified organic, farms and processors must follow specific production standards verified by USDA-accredited certifying agents through annual inspections.
For crops, land must be free of most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for at least three years before harvest. Farmers manage soil health through crop rotation, cover crops, and organic matter, while pests and weeds are controlled mainly through physical and biological methods instead of synthetic chemicals.
For livestock, animals must have access to the outdoors year-round (with limited exceptions), be fed 100% organic feed, and, if they’re ruminants like cows, spend at least 120 days on pasture each year. Antibiotics and growth hormones aren’t allowed, and if an animal is treated with antibiotics, it can no longer be sold as organic.
Producers selling less than $5,000 annually in organic products don't need certification but must still follow all production standards. They can use the word "organic" but cannot display the USDA seal.
Organic without soil?
Now for the part that tends to surprise people. You can grow food without soil. It’s called hydroponics, and it involves growing plants in water with added nutrients instead of in the ground. It’s efficient, controlled, and increasingly common. It can also be certified organic.
This has been debated for years, and not quietly. Traditional organic farming has always been tied to soil health, the idea that building rich, living soil is the foundation of better food.
Hydroponic systems skip that entirely, with supporters arguing that hydroponics uses fewer resources, reduces pests, and still avoids synthetic inputs. Critics argue that removing soil removes the point of organic farming in the first place. The USDA ultimately allowed it, and the courts backed that decision.
So what does that mean for nutrition? Plants make their own vitamins, so levels vary depending on the crop and growing method. As for minerals, I couldn’t get a decisive consensus since most studies are mixed. Where soil does often stand out is in plant compounds like antioxidants and polyphenols. These tend to be higher in soil-grown plants because natural soil conditions create more environmental stress, which triggers plants to produce more of these protective compounds.
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ENDNOTE
Final Thoughts
For anyone who wants to go deeper, the USDA organic standards are publicly available and surprisingly readable for a regulatory framework.
If this edition got you curious about food labels and regulation, grab another cup of tea (or coffee), because these are an absolute page scrollers:
Until next week!
Adrian Macdonald | Team Dietitian | The 8% Newsletter Author
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