OCA
Files Complaint with USDA's National Organic Program
Against "Organic Water" Scheme
Rutgers
Study Exposes Bayliss Ranch and QAI's Scheme
to Count Tap Water as "Organic"
CONTACT:
Craig
Minowa of the Organic Consumers Association
320-384-7764
Press Release/Summary of Complaint Available Here
On
February 18, 2004, The
Organic Consumers Association (OCA), representing
over 500,000 members, subscribers and volunteers
and hundreds of companies in the natural marketplace,
submitted a formal Complaint to the USDA's National
Organic Program (NOP) against the company Bayliss
Ranch and the certifier Quality Assurance International
(QAI), for illegally counting ordinary water in
Bayliss Ranch's water extracts as "organic."
This scheme enables Bayliss Ranch's customers--manufacturers
of body care and food products for consumers--to
make fraudulent claims about their products' being
"70% organic," by counting the ordinary
water in the Bayliss extracts as the primary "organic"
content of the products. This makes a mockery
of the fundamental purpose of the NOP, which assures
consumers that products claiming organic status
are truly at least 70% organic WITHOUT counting
water as "organic." Click
here to read the full press release for a concise
summary of the Complaint.
Links
to the Complaint
are below, as well as to the attendant Exhibits.
Please read the summary of the Complaint in the
press
release as well as the Complaint in full to
fully understand the problem, and consider sending
your own letter to the USDA in support of this
complaint. It is important that you-the consumer--have
your voice heard about the abuse of the National
Organic Program which is intended to protect YOU.
Click
Here to Read OCA's Complaint Against Bayliss Ranch
and QAI
for Violation of NOP Regulations Regarding "Organic
Water"
Addendums
to Complaint:
OCA
Followup Letter to USDA (Filed 2/20/2004)
Letter
from Gay Timmons Regarding Complaint (2/25/2004)
OCA's
Response to Gay Timmons (2/27/2004)
OCA
Letter to USDA re: March 6 OTA Task Force Vote
(3/11/2004)
Mark
Egide's (Avalon's CEO) Letter to OCA and OCA's
Response (3/24/2004 PDF 500kb)
Update
of Last Name Changes and Spellings within Complaint
(3/29/2004)
OCA's
NOP Letter Regarding PCTF Motions (4/7/2004)
OCA's
NOSB Letter Regarding Kim Dietz Nondisclosure
(4/7/2004)
OCA
Letter to Avalon Concerning Endorsing Businesses
(4/15/2004)
OCA's
Clarifying Letter Re: Endorsing Companies (4/28/2004)
Click
Links Below to Review Complaint Exhibits,
Especially Exhibit 8 for the Rutgers Study:
(All files are PDF format-If
you do not already have
Adobe Reader installed on your system, click
here)
