OrganicEye is demanding transparency in organic labeling and advocating for testing all imports, getting carcinogenic carrageenan out of organic food, and lifting the cloak on corporate agribusinesses hiding behind their certifiers, consultants, and lobbyists.
The Spring 2026 National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting began on May 5 with its first day of public comments, including testimony from OrganicEye Executive Director Mark Kastel raising concerns about the incomplete composition of the congressionally mandated board.
After making major staff cuts at the National Organic Program, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has failed to fill the five open positions on the NOSB. This leaves the board without a third of its members and is in direct conflict with the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act requiring the USDA Secretary to appoint 15 diverse organic stakeholders to review all non-organic materials used in organic farming and food production, along with advising the secretary on implementation of the Act.
In his oral testimony, Mr. Kastel stated:
First, please allow me to suggest that any business that transpires at this meeting could very well be legally challenged.
When we collaborated with the authors of OFPA in Congress in the late 1980s, the composition of the NOSB was carefully designed to insulate rulemaking from undue corporate influence.
The statute states that the USDA Secretary “shall” establish the National Organic Standards Board. It goes on to delineate specific seats that “shall” be designated for organic farmers, public interest/consumers and certifiers. Presently, considering Javier’s chronic absence, farmers have only 25% of the legally required representation, consumers 33%, and accredited certifiers 0%.
Even if the administration wakes up between now and next week, any new appointees would be wholly unqualified to vote on agenda items, having not participated in the subcommittee process.
Read OrganicEye’s formal comments on requiring full disclosure of organic status on websites (as currently required on food packaging), and their demand to lift the cloak of secrecy that allows lawyers, lobbyists, scientists, and certifiers to testify — including on the inclusion of synthetic materials and changing other regulations in organics — without disclosing the identity of their clients.
Also see OrganicEye’s position on removing carrageenan, a probable carcinogen, from use as an organic food ingredient.