October 30, 2013 — Farm-raised fish is one of the few types of food not currently available at the grocery store with a U.S. Department of Agriculture organic label on it, but the agency shouldn’t be in too much of a rush to rectify that, a handful of organic and consumer advocacy groups warn.
The National Organic Standards Board has received more than 900 letters in relation to its request for comments regarding the use of certain synthetics by aquaculture operations hoping to secure future organic accreditation. In particular, the NOSB is looking for reaction to petitions submitted in relation to allowing the use of trace minerals and vitamins, chlorine to be used as a disinfectant and tocopherols to delay rancidity in fats.
The comment period closed Oct. 1, though many of the comments were made publicly available only after the reopening of the government on Oct. 17.
The board was supposed to discuss the petitions at an Oct. 22-24 meeting, in Louisville, Ky., but the meeting was canceled because of the government shutdown and has yet to be rescheduled.
However, the Center for Food Safety says it’s too early to provide meaningful comments on the materials anyway.
“Evaluating substances within the context that they are used is key to the NOSB materials review process,” the advocacy group says in its letter. “Without final regulations to govern organic aquaculture, it is impossible to meaningfully assess the necessity or essentiality of” synthetic materials for use in the program. “If you don’t know which species of fish are being grown, where, or whether the system is open or closed, how can you possibly begin to determine their feed requirements?”
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