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A lot of the homebrew I make is made with organic ingredients - organic grain and hops. However, I have never come across organic yeast (!?) or irish moss. Can I rightly call this beer organic, or does the addition of yeast and irish moss relegate it to "beer with organic ingredients"?

Poshpaws
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    Update: EU regulations also state that 95% organic ingredients is the minimum for a food product to be called "organic". http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/consumer-confidence/logo-labelling_en – Poshpaws Aug 11 '11 at 15:29

2 Answers2

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Most organic products are not 100% organic. Compare organic carrots to organic carrot cake. The FDA or USDA has allowed that a small percentage of the ingredients not be organic as long as the primary and majority ingredients are organic. There are several organic beers out there that don't use all organic hops, yet the still retain the organic label.

I am sure your beer is organic enough to tell your friends its organic.

brewchez
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    Yeah, as long as it's 95% organic it can be labeled as USDA certified(http://usda-fda.com/articles/organic.htm). – Room3 Jun 07 '11 at 21:04
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Yeast itself is organic. The medium it's grown in may not be, but you;d have to contact the yeast manufacturer to know.

Denny Conn
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    Yeast is not organic if it was cultured with non-organic malt, just as a cow that has been fed non-organic grain cannot be labeled organic beef. But, like Brewchez stated, it doesn't really matter as long as the majority (95%) of ingredients are organic. – Room3 Jun 07 '11 at 20:59
  • Sorry Denny, got to downvote this one. – Poshpaws Jun 28 '11 at 15:28
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    Guys, read what I wrote..."Yeast itself is organic. The medium it's grown in may not be". – Denny Conn Jun 28 '11 at 17:21
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    Denny - I was under the impression that some beer yeast strains have been genetically modified. I'll getback to you on this. – Poshpaws Jun 30 '11 at 10:15
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    OK, looks like no GM yeasts have yet been permitted as far as I can tell. So, without taking account of the culturing medium, we can call yeast "organic". Denny - will upvote when I have the privileges. – Poshpaws Jul 03 '11 at 15:31
  • Denny is correct. Even if it was GM, it still would be organic by the Federal regs. All yeasts are GM through selective propagation over the years. Genetically engineered (GE) is very different that genetically modified (GM). There are no modern available tomatoes, for example, that have not been GM'd by selective propagation and that is why GM or GE are not considered in the USDA Organic Marketing regs. – drj Jul 08 '11 at 22:02
  • Not sure that I understand the federal regulations then. Genetic modification is the modification of genetic material via "genetic engineering" such as DNA recombination. Sure, we have been altering genomes for a long time through selective breeding, but this is exactly that. A selectively bread yeast (for example) is not a genetically modified organism. – Poshpaws Jul 10 '11 at 14:51
  • Here is the problem. GE and GM are often viewed as synonyms in the organic food industry and the EU. The USDA makes a distinction as GE foods are not allowed (these are artificially produced organisms that contain transgenetic DNA). But GM foods (those that have different genetics that have been produced through selective propagation) are allowed, This has caused the organic food industry to reject the USDA Organic Program in recent history. Under the US definition, selectively bred yeast are GM, just not GE. – drj Jul 12 '11 at 07:58
  • @Room3 = here is a quote from the USDA guidelines "Yeast is on the National List under 205.605 (a) -- a nonsynthetic, nonagricultural substance. Therefore, as a nonagricultural substance, yeast cannot be certified as organic." I stand corrected, but the point is that it doesn't matter what yeast you use for an organic label under USDA Organic rules. – drj Jul 12 '11 at 08:03