What You'll Learn
- The difference between an ingredient and a processing aid
- How the National List works and which sections apply to different types of nonorganic substances
- What annotations and restrictions are and how they affect what versions and sources you can use
- What a commercial availability search is
- How to verify a supplier’s certification status
- What documentation to collect before an ingredient goes into production
Watch Time: 12:41
Every ingredient behind an organic label has to be verified, and this video covers the work that verification involves. It explains how certifiers sort what goes into your product into ingredients and processing aids, why the baseline expectation is that everything is organic, and how the narrow exceptions on the National List work, including the requirement to show that a nonorganic ingredient isn’t commercially available in organic form before you use it. It also walks through the tools handlers use to make sourcing manageable, from material review organizations that pre-screen inputs to the USDA’s Organic Integrity Database for confirming a supplier’s certificate, and the documentation your certifier expects when you take on a new ingredient or supplier. Handlers featured in the video share what surprised them about sourcing and how they vet the operations they buy from. Watch it when you’re bringing on a new ingredient or supplier, reformulating a product, or setting up how your team verifies what comes through the door.
About the Featured Operations
Giant Jones Brewing Company
- Organic Brewery
- Madison, WI
- 4 Employees
- Certified Organic since 2019
A certified organic brewery run by women, specializing in strong beer styles such as barley wines and Belgian tripels, sold in returnable bottles. The focus on big beers lets it absorb the cost of organic ingredients. Its motivation is rooted in community, sustainability, and a belief in organic agriculture’s benefits for soil, water, and wildlife.
Sailer’s Food Market & Meat Processing
- Meat Processor & Butcher
- Elmwood, WI
- 28 Employees
- Certified Organic since 2016
A meat operation offering both slaughter and processing services for organic and conventional product. It handles animals from intake through cutting, cooking, and packaging, and also hauls livestock for customers who lack their own transport, caring for animals in its possession as they would be on the farm.
Tradin Organic
- Organic Ingredient Importer
- Aptos, CA
- Certified Organic since 2010
A global organic sourcing company importing bulk ingredients such as seeds, grains, fruits, juices, and cooking oils, aiming to be a one-stop shop for U.S. companies seeking organic inputs. It emphasizes long-term grower relationships built on trust and farm visits, with a stated goal of making organic more broadly available.