Eco, bio and organic: what does the label mean

Nowadays, a healthy lifestyle has become one of the main trends. More and more people are engaged in various sports, adjust their diet, strive to consume only healthy foods. And the grocery store counters only contribute to this desire – they beckon products with green labels: “eco”, “bio”, “organic”. But is it worth believing these inscriptions? According to survey data, more than half of consumers do not trust the labeling of the naturalness and eco-safety of products. One of the reasons for such a high percentage of distrust is that consumers simply do not understand what is behind the labels and what is the difference between all these “bio” and “eco”.

What is behind the green label

Eco

The use of the ECO label on products is mandated by regulations governing environmental labeling and declaration standards.^[1]. The presence of such a sign indicates the environmental preference of the product. This means that no harm to the environment is caused (or minimized) during its production, transportation, storage, use or disposal. In other words, when buying eco-products, you choose a product that is safe for nature. But at the same time, one must understand that this marking has nothing to do with the quality of the product itself. It does not indicate that the product is more useful, natural or completely safe for the health of the consumer.

Organic

The possibility of applying the label “Organic product” also has a legal component (provided for in the sanitary rules – SanPiN). According to regulations^[2], organic can be called a product of animal husbandry, beekeeping, poultry farming or obtained from vegetable raw materials, the production of which is carried out in conditions as close as possible to natural. That is, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, animal feed products, hormonal and veterinary drugs, genetic modification (GMO) or ionizing radiation cannot be applied to organic products.

Labeling “Organic” attracts primarily those consumers for whom the principle of “nothing more” is important. When buying organic chicken, you can be sure that it was not stuffed with hormones and antibiotics, and vegetables with such a label were not treated with chemicals and did not grow in environmentally hazardous areas. Organic products are most reminiscent of the very vegetables and meat that people grow in the villages – everything is pure and completely natural.

By the way, in world practice, a manufacturer does not have the right to label its product “Organic” and “Environmentally Friendly Product” without a scientific basis and documents confirming this fact. Those wishing to mark the packaging of their goods as “Organic” must undergo special certification. A supporting document, as a rule, is issued only for a year, after which the manufacturer will again have to be tested. Different countries have their own standards for organic products. For example, USDA Organic Seal labels indicate organic on American products, Euro Leaf and Bio-Siegel (mainly in Germany) in the European Union, Bio Suisse in Switzerland, and JAS in Japan.

Bio

Recently, one of the Russian Internet portals conducted a small statistical study based on the products of the Perekrestok retail chain. It turned out that the most popular label on “green” products is ECO, and the second most common is BIO products. And I must say, the results of the experiment look quite realistic. Remember the counters of any supermarket – it may seem that the label “bio” is on almost everything. Initially, according to GOST^[3], this inscription was present only on milk processing products that contain probiotics and / or prebiotics.

The logic of such a classification is easy to understand if we remember that the word “bios” is translated from ancient Greek as “life”. That is, literally speaking, a bio-product is one in which there is life (living organisms). These are, for example, yoghurts and kefirs, beloved by many, enriched with microorganisms (for example, bifido-, lactobacilli) to improve the functioning of the digestive system.

For a buyer familiar with this classification, the presence of such a sign, for example, on juices or oatmeal will look at least strange. However, at present, BIO certification can also be applied to other types of goods, if the products are grown (manufactured) without the addition of harmful chemicals (such as nitrate fertilizers).

Naturprodukt is another favorite word of marketers that characterizes different product groups. There is no need to talk about the legal framework governing the use of this sign, since at this time it is simply absent. One can only guess what the manufacturer means by indicating “nature” on the product label. Based on the generally accepted understanding of the term “natural product”, it can be assumed that this is a product made from raw materials of natural origin, which does not contain chemical additives, and during production technologies are used to maximize the useful properties of the product.

By and large, natural products can be both food and cosmetics and household chemicals. The only question is the degree of naturalness of this product. For example, if we compare whole cow’s milk and skimmed sterilized milk, then the first option can be considered more natural than the second. Questions also remain about products containing preservatives, flavor enhancers, flavors and other additives. Can they be labeled “natural”?

In general, without an appropriate legislative framework, it is difficult to define clear criteria and standards for the naturalness of products, and the veracity of the labeling depends only on the conscientiousness of the manufacturer.

Functional Products

The meaning of this term is not entirely clear to consumers, but most of them find products with this label useful. According to GOST^[4], functional foods can be called special foods that reduce the risk of developing diseases of the digestive organs, prevent or treat deficiencies of various nutrients, and restore health. Functional products, of course, will not replace medicines, but in some diseases they can be very useful.

Healthy food products

Based on the designation, you can guess that such a product is good for health. But the question is: how do healthy foods differ from, so to speak, “ordinary” counterparts? It turns out that there are no clear criteria for determining this group of goods in the Russian Federation. Again, it is possible to guess what is behind such marking only by government order (No. 1873-r of October 25.10, 2010)^[5]. The text of the document states that the nutritional value of healthy foods should be optimized, including that they contain less fat and are enriched with vitamins and minerals.

Farm Products

Labeling of this type has come to our food market relatively recently and there is no legal framework yet that defines the features of this product. Formally, this category of goods should include only the products of peasant farms, but in reality, the label “Farmer” is often used by large dairies and meat processing plants. Quality farm products usually have a lot in common with organic products, but the two types of products should be distinguished.

Why understand this label

Doctors say that almost 80% of our health depends on what we eat. But here’s the problem: not everyone understands how to choose the right products, how to distinguish high-quality food from stuffed with chemicals. If you know that the treatment of vegetables with agrochemicals worsens their biological value by about 16%, and crops are usually treated with chemicals up to 20 times during the season, then it becomes clear what quality of food we buy in supermarkets. The Union of Organic Farming has calculated that over 200 thousand different chemicals are used in the modern agricultural industry, although only 200 of them have passed official testing. Do you know how much chemicals we eat with agricultural products? Researchers believe that for the year its total amount reaches 9 kilograms.

Namely, chemicals, according to British scientists^[6], today are considered the main culprits of allergies, neurological, gastroenterological and oncological diseases.

Based on this, it becomes clear why people around the world are so picky about the choice of food products and always pay attention to food labeling. Nowadays, products from the eco, organic and bio groups are in great demand – those in which there are no chemical additives. True, if in the West the requirements for food labeling are very strict and the consumer always knows exactly what he is buying, then we still have problems with this.

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