For the second time this year, president Michael McGuffin addressed the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) over the issue, refuting arguments that supplements are "non-agricultural products", and that they do not come under the USDA's bailiwick since they are regulated by the FDA.
Organic Foods Production Act defines an "agricultural product" to be 'any agricultural commodity or product, whether raw or processed … marketed in the United States for human or livestock consumption'. In McGuffin's opinion, this includes supplements.
"There is no principled argument to exclude dietary supplements from the NOP scope," he said.
What is more, supplements are regulated as foods by the FDA.
McGuffin illustrated his point by holding up two bottles, one containing peppermint spirits and the other peppermint flavor. Both products contained only organic peppermint or peppermint oil and organic alcohol or vegetable oil, but the former was marked as a dietary supplement and the latter as a food.
This meant that only the peppermint flavor could legally be labeled as organic - a situation McGuffin said was clearly contrary to the statutory intention of the OFPA.
A report published in January by the National Marketing Institute stated that sales of packaged organic foods and beverages soared 18 percent in 2004 to reach $10.9 billion - up 18 percent on the previous year.
AHPA's director of communications Karen Robin told NutraIngredients-USA.com in March that there is clearly a demand for organic supplements in the US.
"People who are aware of the value of organics look for them everywhere. It is a natural evolution that they will also want their dietary supplements to be organic," she said. "You don't leave your organic sensibilities behind when you walk through the supplements aisle."
In May, AHPA member New Chapter showed the industry that it is perfectly possible to develop supplements that adhere to the NOP standards for organic foods, by reformulating its entire line of multivitamin products (20 in all) using organic ingredients and obtained third party certification from ICS International to support its claim that they adhered to NOP organic guidelines for foods.
It is not only supplements that have been left out in the cold by the NOP. Earlier this year the USDA announced that it is making moves dropping the certification and labeling of organic cosmetic and personal care products.
The move led the Organic Consumers Association and Californian company Bronner's Magic Soap to initiate legal proceedings on the grounds that it had spent more than $5 million ensuring its products were in compliance, and the USDA took the decision without going through the proper rule-making and notification procedures that allow for public comment.
"They can't all of a sudden say organic olive oil is not organic because we use it in a lotion and not in a salad dressing," Michael Bronner told NutraIngredients-USA.com's sister site CosmeticsDesign.com.
"The customer will not be able to easily recognize what is really organic bodycare and what is organic puffery. The USDA Organic logo would enable organic customers to penetrate the charade, and at a glance they could determine what is really organic and what is not without having to take a class on bodycare labeling," he added.
The new policy on cosmetics and personal care products will come into effect on October 21, 2005, unless injunctive relief is granted by the court.