Have you ever wondered how to tell if a packaging, elaborate or not, is really ecological. In fact, knowing if a producing or processing company complies with the ecological requirements and regulations is simple, just look at its certificate. The presentation of this in the container is necessary to comply with the regulations but is it sufficient guarantee to avoid the fraud? Can we be sure it is ecological?
There is green product fraud
Although some minimize it, fraud and picaresque exists in the organic product market. Producers must pass controls in terms of production, but the quantities that come out with the certificate are not certified or controlled.
Each company that is part of the food traceability process must be controlled by a certifier. In addition, the consumer or any person from the chain you can and should demand to see this certificate and its traceability. In the packaged products it is identified with a seal of the certifier in the labeled but we can't see your traceability. Nor are we certain that all the companies in the chain have the certificates for all the ingredients.
Bulk products and increased organic production
The subject still it gets more complicated when it comes to a Bulk product. Currently selling in bulk in order to avoid plastic packaging unnecessary is on the rise. The consumer of ecological products is a consumer of sustainable and ecological products. In these cases, ecological certifications are lost and control is complicated.
All of this is a huge reef for all fraudsters and savvy that sell conventional product at the price, just higher, than the organic product. In addition, control becomes more difficult at a time when the cultivated area and organic farms grow strongly. It gets even more complicated when the product comes from outside the European organic regulations.
Pay for quality and demand your guarantees
Organic agricultural products have a more complex production. These crops cannot use pesticides and controlling pests with biological methods are less effective and more expensive. The production is normally not that high since they cannot use chemical fertilizers. The same thing happens in the organic farming since they cannot be used depending on which drugs and their food must be from organic products. All of this has a top price that it is fair to pay as one superior quality.
It is also fair to demand to see the organic product certificates, that delivery notes o bills to see where it came from. Any producer, processor, store or supermarket chain that sells organic product should show its traceability. The same happens in restaurants and "catering" of universities, colleges, nurseries, etc. Parents should be able to access these products and their traceability as they pay for a product that must display it. The European Union does not allow restaurants to use this logo but if you can demand in their ingredients.
The demanding consumer is the best ally of the organic sector
We do not settle for a printed logo of an ecological product, this only indicates that it is an ecological product (bio, organic, etc.) and we have the right to have the certificates that endorse it as well as its complete traceability. All products that use the organic product seal or logo must contain a minimum of 95% of its composition of organic products. Currently, technology allows it to be displayed in a simple, fast and economical way.
