Organic Bedding

What is Organic Certification?

Stringent standards for organic certification are established at local levels, and by private organizations. Certification is an industry "watchdog" seal of approval, and is not the same as government regulation.

Organic certification involves inspections, soil and water testing; testing of processing facilities, record keeping requirements, to ensure all standards are being met at all times.  Many products may be called organic, but look for the certification.  That's your assurance your purchase is truly organic, not organically produced in one place and artificially processed in another place.

Who regulates certified organic claims?

(The following consumer information is taken directly from an article on the Organic Trade Association site, www.ota.com.)

"The federal government set standards for the production, processing and certification of organic food in the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA). The National Organic Standards Board was then established to develop guidelines and procedures to regulate all organic crops. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during December 2000 unveiled detailed regulations to implement OFPA. These took effect on April 21, 2001, with an 18-month implementation period ending October 2002. At that time, any food labeled organic must meet these national organic standards. USDA’s National Organic Program oversees the program."

There you go.  Legal standards for organic farming and production are now cast in Washington granite!

What is SKAL certification?

Because of the shortage of organic farms in the United States, many organic cotton and organic bedding manufacturers here use organic yarns from organic farms in Asia and South America.  Because organic certification of these materials is outside U.S. industry certification standards, manufacturers seek organic certification governed by the International Inspection & Certification Organisation (SKAL).  Following is an excerpt from SKAL's website, www.certifiedwood.org:

"The Dutch certifier Skal is one of the first organizations active in the field of forest certification. Skal was founded in 1985 as an inspection organization for organic production methods. Nowadays, Skal provides services, international and independent, in the field of inspection and certification.

Skal's mission is to promote the proper indications of products that have been cultivated according to sustainable production methods by means of supervising, testing, inspecting, assessing and certifying them.

Skal employs representatives in several countries where it is active to coordinate its operations as closely as possible with the local situation. Skal has branches in Germany, Hungary, Turkey and Sri Lanka and representatives in several countries around the world. Certification activities are carried out throughout Europe and also in South America, Africa and Asia."

If you have additional questions or comments, let us know at customerservice@kushtush.com.

Susan Fullen-Yurek, Kushtush Organics | Eco Sleep Shop.