Tell Amy’s Kitchen and Clif Bar to quit deceiving organic shoppers
Please send your message. Honest family farmers and marketers are being competitively injured.
OrganicEye alleges that two major marketers of “organic” food, Amy’s Kitchen, which markets a number of frozen food entrées like burritos, enchiladas, pizza, and canned soup, and Clif Bar, manufacturer of Luna, Zbar, and Clif brand snacks, are both misleading shoppers and violating federal law.
“When a company like Amy’s opens their website with a page where the first word is ‘Organic,’ it is clearly implying their brand is organic,” OrganicEye’s Kastel observed.
Amy’s Kitchen, launched in 1988, did not begin to sell organic products — their organic soup line — until 1999, well after the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 established the USDA National Organic Program.
“Amy’s customers likely recognize the value of the word ’Organic‘ on their packaging,” said Kastel. “When a brand mixes certified organic SKUs (stock keeping units) with others that do not qualify for organic certification, the disclaimer “Made with [organic ingredients]” provides a smoke screen that can confuse shoppers into believing that nearly all Amy’s products are certified organic — even though the majority of their products can contain up to 30% non-organic ingredients.”
The USDA prohibits companies from representing the finished product as organic on the front of food packaging if the product itself doesn’t meet organic standards (95-100% organic ingredients).
However, Amy’s and Clif Bar have partnered with corporate certifier of convenience, Quality Assurance International (QAI), to devise a tricky workaround.
They have included the term “certified organic” in QAI logos that appear on products that can include as much as 30% non-organic ingredients.
OrganicEye has filed a formal legal complaint against each of these agribusinesses — but we need your help!
Please click the button below to send a message to the CEOs at Amy’s and Clif Bar. These companies are creating the illusion of being organic brands, but only 32% and 22% of their products, respectively, qualify as certified organic.
Tell them you want your hard-earned money to support businesses and brands that are truly dedicated to organics and protecting the livelihoods of family farmers, the environment, and the health of your family — and to end their misleading practices today!
Thank you very sincerely for making the effort!
Please forward this email and/or share this link on your social media pages to leverage your marketplace power and help save the value of true organic food. Your friends and family trust your judgement!
NOTE: Clif Bar is owned by the agribusiness behemoth Mondelēz International, Inc., a publicly held corporation with revenues in excess of $26 billion per annum. The CPG marketer was originally part of Kraft Foods.
Although less than a quarter of Clif’s product line is certified organic, one of its employees, Tom Chapman, was chairman of the USDA National Organic Standards Board and helped orchestrate the rewriting of its policy and procedure manual, reducing its power to influence organic policy. Mr. Chapman has gone on to become co-CEO of the powerful industry lobby group, the Organic Trade Association.
Mondelēz traces its corporate lineage to the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Phillip Morris. As regulatory authorities began to reject the industry’s funded science and claims that their products were not addictive and damaging to human health, the tobacco giants used their vast profits to diversify their holdings.
Combining its many acquisitions, including Kraft Foods and Nabisco, Mondelēz brands include Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Ritz and Triscuit crackers, and Philadelphia Cream Cheese, in addition to Clif Bar products.