Lawsuit Against USDA Secretary, Organic Policy Moves Forward

The Center for Food Safety filed a lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak, alleging that the USDA changed the Organic Foods Production Act without notice or legislation. The case expounds that the government failed to uphold its provision to remove synthetic substances from the list of approved organic farming substances every five years, barring a two-thirds opposition by the National Organic Standards Board. The plaintiff, along with 13 others, filed the original edition of their complaint last year, and saw it rejected in court. After making amendments and resubmitting, a federal judge ruled that the food safety advocates “adequately alleged harm”, and has allowed the case to move forward. Other plaintiffs reportedly include Beyond Pesticides, Organic Seeds Growers and Trade Association, the Organic Consumers Association. (CNS).

Earth Balance Survey Shows Consumer Preferences

An online consumer survey asked 2,000 participants to rank which healthy food options held the most appeal. In the survey, participants were asked to rank what factors were most important to them while shopping for healthy food: buying “local” was ranked at a high level of importance for 37% of consumers, followed by “organic” (33%) and “non-GMO” (30%). The questionnaire, organized by Earth Balance, also asked participants about their biggest deterrent to trying new types of health food—to which 64% responded “price”. (PRNewsire).

ADM Launches New Non-GMO Flax Product

After a string of specialty food company acquisitions, including Eatem Foods, Harvest Innovations, Wild Flavors, Archer Daniels Midland has launched a new non-GMO flaxseed product, Onavita. The company’s General Health and Nutrition manager indicated that the new brand serves to “provide innovative, on-trend solutions” to customers. (FoodBev).