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Codeage · USDA Organic Certified
The Standard
Begins in the Soil
A formula is only as considered as its origin. For select Codeage formulas, the USDA Organic seal represents ingredients grown and handled to a federal organic standard, verified by an accredited certifier.
USDA Organic certified. Made to certified organic standards.
When you see the USDA Organic seal on a Codeage product, its ingredients were |grown and handled| under a federal standard, verified by an |accredited certifier.|
Organic certification reaches further back than the bottle. It governs the land, the seed, the substances used, the handling, and the records. What follows is how that standard is built, inspection by inspection.
The definition
USDA Organic certification is the federal standard for organic production and handling in the United States.
It is administered by the National Organic Program within the United States Department of Agriculture, established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, and written into federal regulation at 7 CFR Part 205. A product may only carry the USDA Organic seal if the operations behind it hold current organic certification from a USDA accredited certifying agent.
The standard
The National Organic Program, 7 CFR Part 205, established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.
The authority
The United States Department of Agriculture, which sets the standard and accredits the certifiers.
The certifier
A USDA accredited certifying agent, independent of the operation it certifies, renewing each year.
I. Understanding the certification
A federal standard, verified by an outside party.
The same rules apply to every operation that grows, processes, handles, or labels an organic product. A farm, a processor, a packager, and a warehouse are each held to the standard, and each holds certification in its own right.
The USDA does not inspect those operations itself. Certification is carried out by certifying agents accredited by the USDA, independent organizations authorized to review an organic system plan, inspect the site, sample for residues, and certify against the federal standard. An operation must hold that certification before the word organic or the seal may appear on a product.
Organic is one of the few words on a supplement label whose meaning is set by federal regulation rather than by the house that prints it. The seal is the shorthand for that definition. The certifying agent is what stands behind it, and its name appears on the label alongside the seal.
The seal
Certified, then labeled.
The ingredient is certified at its origin. The handling is certified in turn. Only then may the seal appear on the label.
Search the USDA DatabaseII. What the seal covers
Four disciplines of organic certification.
Products bearing the USDA Organic seal are produced under the following requirements, each documented, inspected, and renewed.
01. Land and soil
Three years, before a single harvest.
Land must be managed without prohibited substances for three years before an organic crop can be harvested from it. Soil fertility is maintained through practices such as crop rotation, cover crops, and approved organic matter.
02. Substances and the National List
Every input, allowed by name.
Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are prohibited apart from the narrow set of substances written into the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. Nothing is permitted by default.
03. Excluded methods
What the standard does not allow.
Organic production prohibits excluded methods, a category defined in the regulation to include genetic engineering, along with ionizing radiation and sewage sludge.
04. Handling and traceability
Traced from field to finished lot.
Every operation that processes, packages, or handles the product must hold certification in turn. Records must trace a finished lot back to its ingredient sources, and organic material must be kept separate from non-organic at every step.
On the label
The seal,
in plain sight.
Look for the USDA Organic seal on the label, alongside the name of the certifying agent. Certification status is stated on each Codeage product. Select formulas carry it.
III. How organic certification is granted
A rigorous, two-step process.
An operation that pursues USDA Organic certification goes through two stages. The plan is written first, then the site itself is examined.
Step One
The Organic System Plan
- Scope
- Every operation submits a written plan describing its practices, the substances it uses, its sources, and its records, from soil management through sanitation to how organic material is kept separate.
- Reviewed
- An accredited certifying agent reviews the plan against the federal standard, including each substance used against the National List.
- Also
- Facilities, suppliers, monitoring practices, and recordkeeping systems are examined before certification is granted.
Step Two
Inspection and Certification
- Scope
- An inspector visits the operation on site to confirm that what is written in the plan is what happens in practice.
- Tested
- Certifying agents carry out residue sampling and testing across the operations they certify, and inspections may be unannounced.
- Renewed
- Certification is reviewed every year. The plan is updated, the operation is inspected again, and the certificate is renewed or it lapses.
USDA Organic certified. Made to certified organic standards.
The discipline
Inspected.
The plan is written. The site is visited. The records are followed back to the field. Certification is reviewed every year, which is precisely the point.
The standard, in detail
What organic certification governs.
The federal standard reaches every stage between the land and the label:
Land history
Land must be managed without prohibited substances for three years before an organic crop is harvested from it.
Seed and planting stock
Organic seed and planting stock are required where commercially available, and excluded methods are prohibited.
Substances used
Every substance used in production or handling is reviewed against the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.
Excluded methods
Genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge are prohibited in organic production and handling.
Handling and processing
Processors, packagers, and handlers hold certification in turn, and organic material is kept separate from non-organic throughout.
Records and traceability
An audit trail follows a finished lot back through handling to the certified operations that supplied its ingredients.
Annual review
On-site inspection, residue sampling, and annual renewal. Certification is maintained rather than merely earned.
IV. How the word is graded
Organic has three grades. The seal belongs to two.
Federal regulation sets three labeling categories, each with its own threshold. Knowing the difference is how you read a label properly.
Category one
100% Organic
Every ingredient, and every processing aid, is certified organic. The USDA Organic seal may appear on the product.
Category two
Organic
At least 95 percent of the ingredients by weight, excluding water and salt, are certified organic. The remainder must appear on the National List. The seal may appear on the product.
Category three
Made with organic ingredients
At least 70 percent of the ingredients are certified organic. The named ingredients may be identified as organic, and the seal may not appear on the product.
The seal is reserved for the first two categories. That is why it appears on select Codeage formulas rather than across a catalog, and why the certification status of each product is stated on its own label.
In one line
Look for the USDA Organic seal on the label, your record that the ingredients were grown and handled under a federal standard, verified by an accredited certifier.
V. The house choice
Why Codeage pursues organic certification.
For select formulas, Codeage has pursued USDA Organic certification. That means submitting our sourcing, our handling, and our records to an accredited certifier, and to a standard written in federal regulation rather than by us.
This is not the path of least resistance. Certified organic material is harder to source, slower to qualify, and held to a narrower list of permitted substances at every stage. We accept those constraints because origin belongs in the formula rather than in a footnote to it.
Organic certification describes how an ingredient was grown and how it was handled. It is a standard of agriculture and handling, and it speaks to origin rather than to outcome. That distinction is one we prefer to state plainly, because a certification is only useful when what it covers is understood.
VI. What the seal confirms
What the USDA Organic seal confirms.
When you choose a Codeage product bearing the USDA Organic seal, the following are on record:
A certified operation
The product was produced under an organic system plan reviewed and approved by a USDA accredited certifying agent.
A qualified origin
Its organic ingredients were grown on land managed without prohibited substances, under the federal standard.
A reviewed substance list
Substances used in production and handling were reviewed against the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.
A traceable lot
Records follow the finished product back through certified handling to its ingredient sources.
An annual review
Certification is inspected and renewed each year, and it is published in a public database maintained by the USDA.
The value of a regulated word
Origin, not adjective.
Most words on a label are chosen. Organic is defined, in federal regulation, and it may only be used by an operation that an accredited certifier has reviewed, inspected, and approved. For the Codeage formulas that carry the seal, we have chosen to submit to exactly that examination, and to accept the sourcing constraints that come with it. Not because it is required, but because origin is part of the formula.
In closing
Certification you can look up.
A certification is worth what its record is worth. USDA Organic certification is granted by an accredited certifying agent, reviewed annually, and published in a database the USDA maintains itself. The record is open, and it does not depend on our telling of it.
Not all Codeage products are USDA Organic certified. Those that are represent a decision to hold a formula to a standard set outside this house, from the land through the handling to the label. Look for the seal on the product label, alongside the name of the certifying agent, and read it as it is meant: grown, handled, inspected, and certified.
The public record
The Organic Integrity Database
Every certified organic operation in the United States is published in the Organic Integrity Database, maintained by the USDA rather than by us. An open record, searchable by anyone.
Search the USDA Database USDA Organic certified. Made to certified organic standards.
The Longevity Code
A standard built for the long view.
A daily system, structured around how the body sustains itself across time, and held to the house standard of sourcing and verification.
Join The CodeCodeage · Quality & Certification
USDA Organic · National Organic Program
The USDA Organic seal is a mark of the United States Department of Agriculture. Certification is granted by a USDA accredited certifying agent under the National Organic Program, 7 CFR Part 205. Not all Codeage products are USDA Organic certified. Please check individual product labels to verify certification status and the name of the certifying agent. Organic certification describes agricultural and handling practices and is not a statement about the effect of any product on the body. For more information about the National Organic Program, visit usda.gov.
