Which ingredients count towards your organic percentage
Only agricultural ingredients count towards the organic percentage. Water and salt are excluded from both the organic weight and the total weight, and non-agricultural additives and processing aids sit outside the calculation entirely. The formula is organic agricultural weight divided by total agricultural weight, multiplied by 100.
Last updated: 28 September 2026 · Written by Fliss Roberts, ANZOC
The formula
Organic percentage = (weight of certified organic agricultural ingredients ÷ total weight of agricultural ingredients) × 100.
Everything difficult about this calculation is in deciding what goes on each side of the division, not in the arithmetic.
Four categories of input
| Category | Examples | In the calculation? | Also needs to be permitted? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural ingredients | Flour, fruit, oils, sugar, dairy, herbs, spices | Yes — both halves of the division | Organic ones need a current certificate |
| Water and salt | Added water, sea salt, rock salt | No — excluded from both halves | No |
| Non-agricultural additives | Minerals, some acidity regulators, some raising agents | No | Yes — must be on the permitted list for your standard |
| Processing aids | Filtration media, release agents, enzymes used in process | No | Yes — must be permitted |
Three worked examples
A tomato pasta sauce. 600 g tomatoes (organic), 120 g onion (organic), 60 g olive oil (organic), 200 g water, 8 g salt, 12 g conventional cane sugar. Water and salt come out. Agricultural total is 792 g; organic agricultural is 780 g. 780 ÷ 792 × 100 = 98.5%, so the product qualifies for an organic claim. Notice that including the water would have produced 78.6% and a completely different labelling outcome.
A fruit beverage. 850 g water, 140 g apple juice concentrate (organic), 10 g citric acid used as an acidity regulator. Water is excluded, so the agricultural total is 140 g and all of it is organic: 100% of agricultural ingredients, comfortably an organic product claim even though the pack is mostly water. What the beverage cannot claim is "100% organic", because that top tier requires every ingredient other than water and salt to be organic, and the added citric acid is not. The citric acid also has to be a permitted substance in its own right.
A muesli. 400 g oats (organic), 150 g dried fruit (organic), 100 g conventional sunflower seeds, 60 g honey (organic), 4 g salt. Salt comes out. Agricultural total is 710 g; organic is 610 g. 610 ÷ 710 × 100 = 85.9% — the "made with organic" tier, not an organic product claim. One certified source for the sunflower seeds would take it to 100%.
Where the calculation goes wrong
- Using the ingredient declaration instead of the batch sheet. Declared ingredients are post-processing and often reordered or combined; the calculation uses as-added weights.
- Counting a compound ingredient as one line. Compound ingredients have to be expanded into their sub-ingredients.
- Treating salt as an agricultural ingredient. It is not, and including it moves the percentage in whichever direction happens to hurt.
- Assuming an excluded substance is an allowed substance. Separate tests. Additives and processing aids.
- Forgetting that certificates expire. An ingredient counts as organic only if its certificate is current at the time you take delivery. How to verify a certificate.
- Rounding up. 94.6% is not 95%. Standards are applied as written.
Questions people ask
- Does water count towards the organic percentage?
- No. Water is excluded from both the organic weight and the total agricultural weight. Including it would make almost every sauce, soup and beverage ineligible for an organic claim, which is why every major standard excludes it.
- Is salt included in organic percentage calculations?
- No. Salt is excluded in the same way as water, on both sides of the calculation. Salt cannot be certified organic in any case, as it is a mineral rather than an agricultural product.
- Do additives count towards the organic percentage?
- Non-agricultural additives sit outside the calculation, but each one must be individually permitted under the standard you are certifying to. A non-permitted additive disqualifies the product regardless of the percentage.
- What about flavourings and yeast?
- It depends on whether the substance is agricultural in origin, and standards differ on specific cases such as yeast. This is a question for your certifier on your specific input, and the answer should be recorded in your input register.
- Do I use raw weights or finished weights?
- As-added weights of the ingredients, before processing losses such as evaporation. Using finished-product weights distorts the ratio in ways the standard does not intend.
Sources
- Organic Standards Regulations 2025 — New Zealand Legislation
- USDA NOP — Calculating percentage organic in multi-ingredient products
- Regulation (EU) 2018/848 on organic production and labelling
This page is general guidance, not certification advice. Your certifier's decision is the one that counts — check anything that changes what goes on a label with them before you print.