With the "USDA Organic" seal stamped on its label, Anheuser-Busch calls its Wild Hop Lager "the perfect organic experience."

"In today's world of artificial flavors, preservatives and factory farming, knowing what goes into what you eat and drink can just about drive you crazy," the Wild Hop Web site says.

But Anheuser-Busch got the organic blessing even though Wild Hop Lager uses hops grown with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with pesticides.

Demand for organic food in the U.S. is booming, as consumers seek products that are healthier for them and friendlier to the environment.

Sales have more than doubled in the past five years, reaching $16.9 billion last year, according to the Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass.

But with big companies entering what was formerly a mom-and-pop industry, new questions have been raised about what exactly goes into organic food.

A sweeping change

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a sweeping rule change that would allow 38 nonorganic ingredients to be used in organic foods. Because of the broad uses of these ingredients -- as spices, colorings and flavorings, for example -- almost any type of manufactured food could be affected.

Organic-food advocates have fought to block all or parts of the new rule, saying that it would allow foodmakers to mislead consumers.

"This proposal is blatant catering to powerful industry players who want the benefits of labeling their products 'USDA organic' without doing the work to source organic materials," said Ronnie Cummins, executive director of the Organic Consumers Association of Finland, Minn.

USDA spokeswoman Joan Shaffer declined to answer questions about the plan.

How the USDA sees it

Many nonorganic ingredients, including hops, are already being used in organic products, thanks to a USDA interpretation of the Organic Foods Protection Act of 1990. But two years ago, a federal judge disagreed with how the USDA was applying the law and gave the agency until Friday to name the nonorganic ingredients it would allow.

Organic-food supporters had hoped the USDA would allow only a small number but were dismayed last month when the agency released the proposed list of 38 ingredients.

"Adding 38 new ingredients is not just a concession by the USDA, it is a major blow to the organic movement in the U.S. because it would erode consumer confidence in organic standards," said Carl Chamberlain, a research assistant with the Pesticide Education Project in Raleigh, N.C.

In addition to hops, the list includes 19 food colorings, two starches, sausage and hot-dog casings and a host of obscure ingredients, including a sweetener with the tongue-twisting name of fructooligosaccharides.

The proposed rule would allow up to 5 percent of a food product to be made with these ingredients and still get the "USDA Organic" seal. Even hops, although a major component of beer's flavor, is less than 5 percent of the final product, because the beverage is mostly water.

Organic beer boom

Organic beer, although still a small portion of total beer sales, has been growing even faster than overall organic food sales, reaching $19 million in 2005, a 40 percent increase over the previous year.

Anheuser-Busch, which introduced two organic beers in September, simply cannot find enough organic hops, said Doug Muhlemann, vice president of brewing operations.

That argument doesn't wash with Russell Klisch, owner of Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery, which has been brewing beer with 100 percent organic hops since 1996.

"If we can do it, we think Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest beer producer with virtually unlimited resources, should be able to follow our example," he said.

Klisch said there is enough organic hops to satisfy 90 percent of the current organic-beer demand in the U.S., but that some brewers are put off by its higher price.

 

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