Knowing which foods cannot be certified organic is very important if you're a grower, producer or other handler of organic food products.
Various edible products cannot be certified organic. Products that cannot be certified organic include the following.
Products With Few Organic Ingredients
Mixed food products than contain less than 70% organic ingredients do not qualify for organic certification.
Seafood
The National Organic Standards Board is currently attempting to develop standards for organic seafood, but right now federal rules governing the National Organic Program (NOP) only apply to crops and animals raised on land. Fish and other aquatic life do not fall under the organic livestock policies and cannot be certified organic. Seafood can however be sustainable. To learn more about sustainable seafood visit Seafood Watch.
Salt
Salts are minerals. Since salt is not a agricultural product it cannot be certified organic.
Raw Dairy Products
Federal regulation requires mandatory pasteurization for all milk products intended for human consumption (21 CFR 1240.61). Thus USDA certified organic milk must be pasteurized and cannot be sold raw. Various states have their own raw milk laws, but raw milk is not well regulated across the board. In states where raw milk is legal, the milk may come from a certified organic dairy but that doesn't mean the milk itself is certified organic.
Yeast
Yeast is included on the National List under 205.605 (a) or as a nonsynthetic, nonagricultural substance. Because yeast is nonagricultural it cannot be certified as organic.
Water
Water sold in any shape or form cannot be certified organic. Additionally, water must be excluded when a producer or processor is calculating the percentage of organically produced ingredients in a given product.
