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Organic ingredients and processing aids
The simplest way to create a processed organic product is to use all your own organic ingredients. Our apple butter, for example, has one ingredient: organic apples. Our pumpkin butter posed additional challenges because the recipe also called for white grape juice concentrate, lemons, oranges, cinnamon and mace, so we had to find organic sources for these items.
One challenge is that it can be difficult to obtain documented certified organic product in small quantities. You can combine with other farmers for a group purchase, or buy part of a larger lot from another processor. No matter where you get your ingredients, you'll need documentation to show that they're organic. If you buy prepackaged ingredients in small quantities at the grocery store, save the receipt and the package.
Earlier in this module we talked about the National List governing allowed and prohibited organic inputs. Part of the List relates to organic processing:
• §205.605 lists nonagricultural substances allowed as ingredients in products labeled as "organic" or "made with organic ingredients"
• §205.606 lists non-organic agricultural products allowed as ingredients in products labeled as "organic" or "made with organic ingredients"
The former group includes things like ascorbic acid, low-methoxy pectin and sodium bicarbonate; the latter is much shorter and includes kelp, carob bean gum and unbleached lecithin. Most of these substances are used primarily by large-scale commercial processors, but some, like pectin and xantham gum, can be purchased in retail quantities and are used by farm-based processors in products like jams or lotions.
All production methods, facilities and recipes—including all ingredients and processing aids (such as oil used on bread pans)—must be approved by the certification agency before sale with an organic label.
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  Organic tomatoes and peppers from the Rodale Institute farm. A value-added salsa opportunity? (Photo: TRI)
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