ANZOC

    Can I call my product organic?

    You may call a product organic if the site making it is certified, every ingredient counted as organic has a current certificate, every additive and processing aid is permitted, and at least 95% of agricultural ingredients by weight are organic, excluding water and salt. Between 70% and 94% you may say "made with organic" in New Zealand, Australia and the United States, but not in the European Union.

    Is the site where the product is made organic certified?

    1. Is the site where the product is made organic certified?

    Including a contract manufacturer, if someone else makes it for you.

    Does every ingredient you are counting as organic have a current certificate naming it?

    2. Does every ingredient you are counting as organic have a current certificate naming it?

    The certificate must be current on the date you take delivery, and its scope must cover the product you are buying.

    Is every additive and processing aid you use permitted under your standard?

    3. Is every additive and processing aid you use permitted under your standard?

    Permitted status is a separate test from the percentage. One non-permitted substance disqualifies the product.

    Organic percentage

    4. What is your organic percentage?

    Of agricultural ingredients by weight, excluding water and salt. Work it out here.

    Your answer

    Answer the questions above to see the claims available to you.

    Why the first three questions come before the percentage

    The percentage only decides which tier you are in. Whether you are in any tier at all is decided by certification, supplier evidence and permitted substances — and each of those is a yes-or-no gate. A 99% organic recipe made at an uncertified site has no organic claim available to it.

    The full reasoning is in Can I call my product organic? A decision tree for New Zealand.