Food safety and regulations

One of the growing sectors of agriculture in the United States is the organic food industry. The consumer demand is continuously increasing accounting for about 2.5% of the total food sold in the country (Food marketing institute, 2003). The demand for the products is significantly higher than the supply rising the attention of the food retailers and producers interested in the trade. This has led to the practice of false certification. The USDA has caught sellers and companies trying to sell these fake products in the country, from those grown within the country to those imported (Albert, 2010). The same problem has been experienced in Colorado. These products are fraudulent and may contain elements and products that could affect the consumer’s wellness. It is important to research into an immediate and a long-term strategy that can be used to prevent these faux products from reaching the customers.

Literature Review

Jou, D. (2011) Caught: Fake Organic Certificates from China. Eco-cert: Farm Bill. April 4.

Diana Jou has found out that besides producing other knock-off products, China has also ventured into the business of producing fake organic foods. She says that the USDA has caught a Chinese company exporting non-organic products using fake organic certification. The laws governing certification have failed to be fully enforced leading to the discrepancy. The post however only covers the food imports but does not consider that which is grown in the country, yet its certification is falsified.

Organic Authority. Colorado may soon be the land of certified organic weed.

The Organic Authority claims there was fake marijuana found in Colorado that was suspected of being grown using prohibited products. It was found that the HB16-1079 law does not give a specification of what should entail certification, and instead, it directs the agricultural department to seek a third party that drafts these regulations. There is also no specification of the pesticides that would be off-limits for these plants.

Thilmany, D. (2006).The US Organic Industry: Important trends and emerging issues for

the USDA. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. April.

Thilmany says that US organic food sector is capturing the attention of consumers, producers, policy makers and others involved in the farm and nutritional and environmental issues. The innovative nature of producing organic products and the national certification program has brought in a high market presence of both real and fake products due to the high profile clients in the market. Extensive research and education i required on the production marketing and food science issues involved in the sector.

Hollyer et al. (2013). The Allowed use of commercial fertilizers, pesticides and synthetic

substances on the US Farms under the USDA National organic program. College of Topical agriculture and human resources. University of Hawai

According to Hollyer et al., the misconception that the fact that a product is not produced using synthetic chemicals is false. Farmers are allowed to use the chemicals when other organic methods fail. Conventional farmers are however not bound by the same rules as the organic farmers, but they must follow those concerning food safety. The study recommends research into the facts that govern marketing claims made by organic processors so that the customer can stay knowledgeable regarding the issue. The study does not offer consumers a way to differentiate between organic and inorganic products.

Research Plans

I intend to conduct an empirical research of the process that the regulatory body takes during the certification of organic products and uncover any flaws that may be the reason for the infiltration of fake products into the market (Rainey et al., 2005). I will compare it to the theoretical research into the recommended certification process as per the government regulations. After that, the two kinds of research will be compared to determine the areas where the flaws lie. This research is meant to eliminate the possibility that the flaws experienced could be due to the neglect of the existing rules and regulations (Bhattacherjee, 2012). The research will take only a week and will involve seeking secondary sources of information on government regulation and observation of the process in a certification agency.

The long-term research project will require a survey of the difference between the growing of both the organic and inorganic products to determine the difference between the two so that the customers can learn how to tell the two products apart and avoid deception (Prado, Luiz & Filho, 2011). The research will involve visiting two farms, one that grows organic tomatoes and the other that uses synthetic chemicals, both of which must be keeping farm records. The study will involve visiting the farms at least once per week, and since the crops take an average of three months to grow, this will comprise of twelve visits to each farm during the period from their planting to harvesting.

During each visit, the researcher will collect information kept in the records of the activities that have taken place since the last visit and observe the changes that are evident in the farm to confirm the records (Goldsworthy & Vries, 2004). After collecting the records, the process of certification is also recorded. This research will come up with ways that the customers can use to distinguish between organic and inorganic farm food products without having to look at the certification labels since the labels could be faked. This advice will come from the researcher’s observation, the opinion of the farmers and that of the certifying agent.

Conclusion

It is hoped that the immediate research will identify the loopholes through which the inorganic food producers access the organic market by comparing the certification process prescribed by the government and that which takes place in real life. The long-term research is aimed at identifying the stages of the certification process that takes place and determining ways that the customers can identify the authentic organic foods since the labels themselves cannot be trusted before the regulation is proven trustworthy.

ReferencesTop of Form

Top of Form

Albert, J. (2010). Innovations in food labelling. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations and Woodhead Publishing Limited.

Bhattacherjee, A. (2012).Social Science Research Principles, Method and Practices. University

of Florida.

Food marketing institute. (2003). Natural and Organic Foods. Washington D.C.

Goldsworthy, P., & Vries, F. P. (2004). Opportunities, use, and transfer of systems research

methods in agriculture to developing countries: Proceedings of an international workshop on systems research methods in agriculture in developing countries, 22-24 November 1993, ISNAR, the Hague. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Hollyer et al. (2013). The Allowed use of commercial fertilizers, pesticides and synthetic

substances on the US Farms under the USDA National organic program. College of Topical agriculture and human resources. University of Hawai

Jou, D. (2011) Caught: Fake Organic Certificates from China. Eco-cert: Farm Bill. April 4.

Organic Authority. Colorado may soon be the land of certified organic weed.

Prado, H. A., Luiz, A. J. B., & Filho, H. C. (2011). Computational methods for agricultural

research: Advances and applications. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Rainey, R., Pittman, H., Mirus, S., McGaw, K. & Popp, J. (2005). Organic Certification Process.

University of Kansas, Division of Agriculture.

Thilmany, D. (2006).The US Organic Industry: Important trends and emerging issues for

the USDA. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. April.
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Posted on May 23, 2016Author TutorCategories Question, Questions