The term organic can be applied to a wide range of products - from food and drink to clothes and health and beauty care products. This section covers food processing and non-food products. If you want to find out about organic farming, please read the organic farming section of this guide. Information on other organic products can be found in What can I buy that's organic?

In some areas we still have work to do to bring our standards more in line with our aims. The Soil Association's organic standards are always open to review as new information becomes available. Our standards setting process allows changes to be made and ensures that our rules are at the forefront of organic production. By purchasing products displaying our symbol you are not only buying products produced to very high standards, but are also supporting our work to find ways of continuing to improve these standards.

The life of an organic product...

During the certification process, businesses wanting to make organic products are rigorously assessed:

• their ingredients and recipes have to be approved,
• their premises and records inspected,
• their labels approved.

Once this is done, the product is added to a company's trading schedule (list of products that they can sell as organic). Only then can a product be sold as organic.

The benefits of organic products

Our intake of processed foods has dramatically increased in the last decade, and most food we eat today has been processed in some way. The Soil Association is concerned about public health, therefore our processing standards ensure that products are kept as near to its natural state as possible. This is because a healthy diet can be undermined by eating overly-processed foods. The standards ban any additives that have been linked with health problems as well as limiting the amount of processing aids that can be used.

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This document is not to be used by Soil Association licensees as a substitute for the Soil Association organic standards. The standards are available to buy for £30. To order a copy please call 0117 914 2406, or email goorganic@soilassociation.org.