Why organic? Ask the cats…
If we were being frank, we’d have to confess that when asked for a definition of organic food, any one of our team would be likely to get bogged down in explanations and caveats. We’re just too immersed in the inspection and licensing process that we have to remember to take a step back sometimes.
That’s why it was refreshing to stumble across an article by someone who has taken a fresh look at the topic and done a good precis of what organic certification means. It just so happens it’s in relation to cats and is on a site called pictures-of-cats.org. But that’s fine because we also certify pet food and this particular piece also contains a link to one of our licensees, Pero Petfood.
Well worth a read if you want background on the implications of organic certification – or you just like cats.
I thought that the EU regulation only covers food for human consumption?
Or am I wrong?
@Phil Smith
You are not wrong, in the sense that only food for human consumption must, legally, be inspected and certified as organic if the term is to be applied to it’s labelling and marketing (it can be organic, but unless it’s properly licensed it can’t claim to be).
With pet food, the EU Organic Regulation does not demand certification if it is to be called organic, though we fully expect this to change in a future update to the regulation.
Some manufacturers opt for voluntary certification, to demonstrate to their customers that their ingredients and processes meet the rigorous standards of organic certification. Technically, if it’s certified, pet food will be fit for human consumption – though the processing team tell me that the processes used would make it rather unappealing texture and consistency-wise. I don’t intend to test that contention!
We just highlighted the above piece because, even though it’s about pet food, it’s a rather neat appraisal of what it means to be truly organic.
Hope that clarifies it.