James Fischer wrote:

>   There are several "USDA Organic"
> honey producers in Hawaii. (snipped on of them)
> http://www.volcanoislandhoney.com/
> There are more.
> Clearly, the standards can be "met" to one extent
> or the other, or perhaps the certification entities
> in Hawaii are reading the more draconian sections of
> the regulations in a slightly less-strict way, I dunno.

Jim,

Always great to see your posts.

I looked at one site and all I saw concerning them meeting organic 
standards was:

"To maintain Kiawe honey's wonderful taste, texture and nutritional 
qualities Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey is offered in its pure, 
natural state - unfiltered and with no heat ever applied to it. The 
collection and extraction process is accomplished organically, using no 
poisons, chemicals or additives. Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey is as 
close to its natural state as possible except that it is in a jar."

I lived in Hawaii and met my wife there. My oldest son lives there also 
with hundreds of relatives, so we visit yearly.

They are getting their Honey from Kiawe trees so there is a strong 
possibility that they do not meet the proposed organic separation 
standards nor purity of organic forage.

But they do meet the USDA label standards for organic, and so do I.

To be able to label your product USDA Organic you need meet the following:

Farmers who gross less than $5000 from organic products and sell direct 
to consumers or retailers are exempt from the certification requirement. 
Those farmers may call their product organic, but they can't use the new 
USDA seal.

To get the USDA seal, the regulations condensed down are :

     * prohibit the use of irradiation, sewage sludge, or genetically 
modified organisms in organic production;
     * reflect NOSB recommendations concerning items on the national 
list of allowed synthetic and prohibited natural substances;
     * prohibit antibiotics in organic meat and poultry; and
     * require 100% organic feed for organic livestock.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved four categories of 
organic labels, based on the percentage of organic content. The organic 
labels began to appear on store shelves on October 21, 2002:

1. 100 Percent Organic - may carry USDA Organic Seal

2. Organic - at least 95% of content is organic by weight (excluding 
water and salt) and may carry the USDA Organic Seal.

3. Made With Organic - at least 70% of content is organic and the front 
product panel may display the phrase "Made with Organic" followed by up 
to three specific ingredients. (May not display new USDA Organic seal)

4. Less than 70 % of content is organic and may list only those 
ingredients that are organic on the ingredient panel with no mention of 
organic on the main panel. (May not display new USDA Organic seal)"

So, from a technical point of view, it is not hard to get the USDA 
organic label on produce, especially honey. Which has caused the Organic 
movement much grief since their requirements are tougher for all 
produce. The USDA label standards are:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards/LabelPre.html

So I can see how the company links you provided can put "organic" on 
their labels. But if the standards for organic honey are approved as 
they currently stand, I doubt if they would be able to. Nor would most.

I agree with your comments on HMF. The California beekeepers used much 
more colorful language than you.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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