Your favorite vitamin and supplement brand may label itself as "food-based" or "natural", but the overwhelming majority of today's supplements are actually laced with synthetic chemicals, genetically engineered ingredients, or even nanoparticles. The FDA, in accordance with the wishes of the large pharmaceutical companies who supply the feedstocks for 90% of all dietary supplements, allows vitamin companies to label their products as "natural," "food-based," or even "organic," even if these supplements are composed of 90% synthetic ingredients, including genetically modified organisms. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), along with the Naturally Occurring Standards Group, is launching a new "truth in labeling" campaign that will enable consumers to distinguish between those vitamins and supplements that are truly natural or organic, and those that simply claim to be.

In a nutshell, the new Naturally Occurring Standard (NOS) will allow consumers to know whether a vitamin/supplement product:

    * Contains synthetic ingredients.
    * Contains genetically engineered ingredients.
    * Only contains ingredients found in nature.
    * Only contains ingredients that are sustainably harvested and fairly-traded.
    * Is organic.

In order to make clear to the $20+ billion supplements industry that consumers want truth-in-labeling for vitamins & supplements, please sign our petition: www.organicconsumers.org/nutricon/nutripetition.cfm.
And stay tuned to the Nutri-Con section of the OCA website for further developments.

HOW "NATURAL" OR "ORGANIC"
ARE YOUR VITAMINS & SUPPLEMENTS?

OCA is building an expansive database of companies that meet strict NOS standards for being 100% naturally occurring and organic. To find out if your favorite vitamin/supplement is truly natural, please submit that company's name when you sign the Nutri-Con petition (see above). We will be posting an online database over the next two months, listing how the various companies rank. Learn more: www.organicconsumers.org/nutricon/nutripetition.cfm

For more information on this topic or related issues you can search the thousands of archived articles on the OCA website using keywords:

Become an OCA Member! Sign up below:

First Name
Last Name
Email
Email Preference	HTML EmailText Email
Phone
Street
Street 2
City
State	Select One... Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Other
Zip
Country	United StatesAfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaColombiaComorosCongoCongDemocratic Republic of theCosta RicaCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicIvory CoastDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEast TimorEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFijiFinlandFranceGabonGambiTheGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHondurasHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKoreNorthKoreSouthKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacedoniFormer Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMauritaniaMauritiusMexicoMicronesiFederated States ofMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalQatarRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and The GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbia and MontenegroSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTogoTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe