New Chapter had to provide their certifier with the organic certification for every ingredient used in their certified products, as well as a full organic production plan, covering their monitoring practices, record keeping, storage, handling practices, supply chain, and every other aspect that could affect the organic integrity of thier products.
USDA NOP regulations say processed food products that contain at least 70 percent organically produced ingredients can use the phrase "made with organic ingredients" and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel. But the USDA seal cannot be used anywhere on the package. The New Chapter Organics probiotic line falls into this category.
And while New Chapter Claims - and their certifier agress - that their probiotics are food, since the products carry a supplement panel and structure-funtion claims, they are subject to FDA regulation as supplements.
"Consumers want to be assured that they are purchasing products that are truly organic," says New Chapter President Tom Newmark, "but regulation is sorely needed if we plan to expand the organic movement. In the future what we need is for the USDA and FDA to work together to come up with an organic standard that makes everyone happy, and covers the labeling requirements for both sides. It's not about the seal, it's about the standard."
When you're shopping for supplements, you may find other supplement companies that identify themselves as organic, but no other, at this writing, has been certified under the NOP.
Shopping is a political act. When you buy something, you buy something, you are voting with your wallet: You are supporting the manufacturers of the products you buy, and encouraging them to produce more of the same. You can create your own reality in the marketplace by using your economic power to foster change. If you want quality products, demand will create the supply.
Take your multivitamins, for example. Are you getting what you pay for? Did you know that one of the LEAST important factors in your decision about buying multivitamins is the number of milligrams of its constituents? Milligrams measure weight, not effectiveness. Do the math - and the biochemistry - 1,000 milligrams of anything synthetic and isolated can't begin to measure up to the synergistic workings, the alchemy, the "inner wisdom" of a whole plant.
Why does a plant turn towards the sun? How do its leaves know when to sprout? Where does the energy come from to turn a seed into a shoot and a sapling and then a full, blossoming herb? Nature's infinite capacity for making the right things happen at the right time in the right way can't be replicated in a factory using artificial ingredients.
More precisely, it's the gestalt of nature, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, that can't be replicated. At best, it can only be appropriated with great care, by utilizing nature's own processes and its bounty.
Isolates are isolated. They function on their own. Add one isolate to another one and you get two isolates, sometimes synergistic, sometimes not.
However, if you take whole foods and process them according to natural laws of action-reaction, such as fermentation, you will unleash the exponentially greater capacities of the beneficial compounds and powerful antioxidants not found in the isolates themselves, or in any combination thereof.
And, if those whole foods are vegetarian and organic, the end results is a product that can be as beneficial for people as it is for the Earth.
New Chapter's Every Man® and Every Woman® contain at least 70 percent organically produced ingredients which are fermented (cultured) whole-food supplements. Paul Schulick and Tom Newmark, authors of The Life Bridge (and partners in New Chapter), explain the benefits of fermenting or culturing this way: "It's the miracle of transformation from inorganic molecules to organic complexes that carry the vitality of life itself."
Culturing intensifies and releases nutrients that would otherwise remained "locked inside"; it creates activity, bioavailability, and stability. Think of the shelf life of kimchi versus cabbage, or yogurt versus milk. It's no wonder culturing is one of the oldest forms of food preservation and nutritional enhancement.
Cultruing food fibers produces butyrate, a powerful liver detoxifier. The isoflavones in soy are created by culturing soy. Culturing broccoli turns its glucosinolates into isothiocyanates, another detoxifier. The bacteriocins produced in fermentation kill bacteria like harmful strains of E. coli and the culturing yeast make by-products that inhibit the growth of harmful yeast.
These multivitamin formulas are unique and distinctive: Each blend is made with some gender-specific nutritional needs in mind, but they share some distinguishing features. For example, the selenium found in Every Woman and Every Man is a whole-food probiotic selenium, which has been shown to be 64 times more active than isolated selenomethionine. And unlike many multis, these can be taken on an empty stomach, since their USP nutrients are cultured within the whole food.
In addition, Every Man and Every Woman contain a flash freeze-dried concentration of spinach and blueberries. Freeze-drying preserves the vital integrity of the whole foods, retaining their nutritional vaules. And they are concentrated up to 10 times their original from. Freeze-drying also preserves fiber content, providing the digestive benefits of wholesome plant fibers.
No other multi we know of offers the antioxidant and nutrient-dense power of these "super" foods. There are so many more you'll have to pick up a bottle (or go to their website) to read all the ingredients.
They are cultured in organic non-GMO soy (Culturing soy removes the allergen GLYM Bd 30, good news for people who are allergic to, or don't tolerate, soy products). The culturing process uses carefully selected, time-tested safe probiotic strains, Lactobacilli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, among others.
And they're made with organic ingredients. There are plenty of studies that show that pesticides are harmful to your health and that alone may be reason enough to prefer organic. The prestigious National Institutes of Health recmmends fedding organic fruits and vegetables to children to limit their exposure to pesticides, since pesticides concentrate more in smaller bodies. Although they haven't made the same recommendation for adults, more and more adults who want to ingest fewer pesticide-sprayed crops are turning to organic food.
Antioxidant levels of organically grown plants have shown 30 percent higher levels of antioxidants than conventional, according to the Organic Trade Association. High-Temperature, high-pressure processing and the use of hexane in oil extraction are all banned in organic farming, and these factors are thought to have an impact on the levels of antioxidants in the crops. Further research is being conducted this year, funded by the OTA.
"Health-conscious consumers are empowered by choice, and offering an organic choice enables consumers to nourish their families with purity while also protecting the planet," says Tom Newmark.
How much are these extra ingredients, this extra effort and attention to detail, worth to someone shopping for a multivitamin? Adding culturing to the process of making a multivitamin is a significant investment, and it takes extra time and effort to grow and handle organic ingredients properly and to comply with government guidelines for certification. It's no wonder New Chapter's Every Man and Every Woman won't be found in the bargain bins at your local health store.
You may already be spending $1-2 a day on one supplement, say, beta-glucans 1 and 3, or Vitamin C, or greens formulas, but the culturing process in Every Man and Every Woman offers a rich supply of these in every serving. If you are considering buying digestive enzymes, glutathione, phospholipids, or barley, New Chapter's Every Man and Every Woman already contain them.
So think before you buy. Support companies that are doing the right thing for people and for the Earth. When you shop, choose wisely.