The United Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA) will implement “Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE)” on March 19, 2024 as part of their ongoing work to build on the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and strengthen the integrity of the USDA seal used to identify true organic products.

USDA states the goals of the latest amendments under SOE are to “improve organic integrity across the organic supply chain and benefit stakeholders throughout the organic industry. … to close gaps in the current regulations to build consistent certification practices to deter and detect organic fraud, and improve transparency and product traceability. In addition, the proposed amendments will assure consumers that organic products meet a robust, consistent standard and reinforce the value of the organic label.”

SEAL USE IS GROWING

Those in the organic food industry are actively implementing these USDA changes as well as their own self enacted measures to secure and track product in their supply chain and to combat fraud and theft.

Tamper Evident Seals are an important tool in this effort. Seals have long been required in the importation, shipping and storage of food products, but the requirements do not separately cover organic. Likewise, USDA does not mandate seals for all areas of organic food. However, companies in the non-retail area of producing, processing, transportation, and storage of organic foods have increased use of seals for their operations in strategic places. Some is voluntary use and some is in response to USDA calls for greater security.

Users deploy seals to identify, verify, protect and track organic products at all stages from farm to consumer.

Seal applications for the food industry also include bulk storage at farms and processing plants, tankers, hoppers and bulk containers, access doors and hatches, test samples, process control valves and much more.

With a tamper evident seal users can not only deter and detect tampering or theft. They can employ custom print and color coding to spot organic product on sight.

A commonly recognized seal application in the agricultural and bulk distribution side of organic foods calls for green plastic seals marked ORGANIC with a serial number and the identity of the company. This helps clearly distinguish containers or transport vehicles with organic food from others with non-organic content. American Casting & Mfg. produces a range of green plastic seals with custom print of company logos etc, for that purpose. Plastic seal options can be seen at our web site.

Custom markings can also help track and manage goods using barcodes or QR codes to capture digital information – which coordinates with visual and manual verification.

AC&M manufactures and supplies a full range of seals to the food industry (and nearly all industries) including plastic and metal indicative seals, adhesive labels and tapes, and high strength cable and bolt seals. We’ve produced seals at our New York facility for well over a century. AC&M is recognized by industry and governments for offering the highest quality and service. We are trusted by thousands to meet their seal needs.

For information or assistance in selecting and buying seals for organic food use (or any purpose) contact one of our exports by phone, email or online. You’ll be working with a fourth generation family owned and operated business with more accumulated years of seal knowledge and experience than any other seal company.