Consumers buying organic foods need to be cautious

Some unscrupulous traders adopt various methods such as randomly labeling "organic" words and making fake identification signs, and use counterfeit or expired "organic foods" to harm consumers. They need to keep their eyes open when buying.

Mark "organic" arbitrarily. Some food manufacturers or distributors, in order to obtain higher profits, are arbitrarily labeling “organic” on the foods they produce or sell without the certification of the certification body, and then sell them in the name of “organic” foods.

Certification identification fraud. Some manufacturers commissioned printing companies to print counterfeit or counterfeit “organic certification” and “green certification” logos, and then printed fake or counterfeit logos on their foods, posing as “organic food” sales.

Incomplete labeling of food packaging. According to the relevant national regulations, the “organic” food packaging must be marked with the “organic food” logo and the name of the certification body or the logo of the representative certification body. Although some "organic foods" currently on the market have been labeled with "organic foods," they have not been marked with the name of the certification unit or on behalf of the certification body and cannot prove the authenticity.

The certification mark has expired. The "Regulations on the Administration of Organic Product Certification" stipulates that the "organic food" certification is valid for one year. After the one-year certification period expired, some "organic foods" for sale in the market did not submit a "retention certification" application to the original certification body, and continued to use the "organic" label without authorization when its certification mark had expired.

The direct sub-bureau of the Jinan City Bureau of Industry and Commerce reminded consumers that the current buyers and sellers in the organic food market have asymmetric information, and that manufacturers have exaggerated their behavior in different degrees during the publicity process, leading consumers to blindly pursue organic foods. In fact, the nutritional value of “organic” foods is not much higher than that of conventional foods, and consumers should rationally treat them.