There have
been recent criminal prosecutions of producers
who falsely labeled their products as organic. For
example, in May of 1998, Petrou Foods, Inc., a San
Diego processor of olives, olive oil, and vinegar,
pleaded no contest to charges of theft for falsely
representing and branding products as organic
(Groves 1998). In 1996, the president of Glacial
Ridge Foods Company confessed to investigators
that his Minnesota-based wholesale firm had been
mislabeling ordinary beans and barley as organically
grown (Landay 1996).
This analysis has policy implications for organic
food issues, First, are national standards desirable?
With or without national standards, is third-party
monitoring necessary for truth in labeling of organic
products? If third-party monitoring is necessary
and given that it is costly, what level of monitoring
is necessary to ensure truth in labeling?