The USDA further determined the synthetic additives should be banned from a product carrying the federal organic label.
However, the same additives which are purported to boost brainpower and vision, can
be found in 90 percent of organic baby formula.
The labels on organic infant formula proclaim they include DHA and ARA, synthetic fatty acids that some studies suggest can help neural development.
However, according to agency records, when the issue came before the USDA in 2006, agency staff members concluded that the fatty acids could not be added to organic baby formula because they are synthetics that are not on the standards board's approved list.
The move from prohibition to permission was a result of the actions taken by a USDA program manager who was lobbied by the formula makers. The manager overruled her staff.
The fatty acids in formula are often produced using a potential neurotoxin known as hexane. This encouraged organics advocates to conclude that the board would not approve their use if it took up the matter.
Barbara Robinson, who administers the organics program and is a deputy USDA administrator took an unusual step. She overruled the staff decision after a telephone call and an e-mail exchange with William J. Friedman, a lawyer who represents the formula makers.
"I called [Robinson] up," Friedman said. "I wrote an e-mail. It was a simple matter."
Robinson's decision paved the way and along with other decisions made by a handful of USDA employees and an advisory board's approval of a growing list of non-organic ingredients, has helped numerous companies win a coveted green-and-white "USDA Organic" seal on an array of products.
Robinson issued, in 2004, a directive allowing farmers and certifiers to use pesticides on organic crops if "after a reasonable effort" they could not determine whether the pesticide contained chemicals prohibited by the organics law.
Robinson, also in 2004, determined that farmers could feed organic livestock non-organic fish meal, which can contain mercury and PCBs. The law requires that animals that produce organic meat be raised entirely on organic feed.
After sharp protests from Leahy, Consumers Union and other groups, Ann Veneman, then agriculture secretary, rescinded these and two other directives issued by Robinson.
What has happened to organic food since these decisions were made?
Take a look at three products: grated organic cheese, contains wood starch to prevent clumping. Organic beer can be made from non-organic hops. Organic mock duck contains a synthetic ingredient that gives it an authentic, stringy texture.
How did this come about? Organics has become big, big business. In the U.S. the organics market is a $23 billion-a-year business and the fastest growing segment of the food industry.
The consumer often pays more for a product with the Organic label but it is apparently possible that the buyer is not getting what was paid for, an organic product, free of synthetic ingredients.
The investigation being conducted by the USDA inspector general's office has widened to look into the department's oversight of private certifiers who are hired by farmers and food producers and inspect products to determine whether they can use the label.
Some consumer groups and members of Congress are concerned that lax standards will undermine the federal program and the law itself.
"It will unravel everything we've done if the standards can no longer be trusted," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who sponsored the federal organics legislation.
"If we don't protect the brand, the organic label, the program is finished. It could disappear overnight."
In 2002, the USDA created the National Organic Program to implement the law. Under the original organics law, 5 percent of a USDA-certified organic product can consist of non-organic substances, provided they are approved by the National Organic Standards Board since then the list has grown from 77 to 245 substances.
The original law's mandate for annual pesticide testing was also never implemented; this was left as an option.
Arthur Harvey, who grows organic blueberries in Maine, successfully sued the USDA, in 2003, arguing the fledgling National Organic Program had violated federal law by allowing synthetic additives.
"The big boys like Kraft realized they could really cash in by filling the shelves with products with the organics seal," Harvey said.
"But they were sort of inhibited by the original law that said no synthetic ingredients."
It was a short lived victory. The Organic Trade Association, which represents corporations such as Kraft, Dole and Dean Foods, lobbied for and received language in a 2006 appropriations bill allowing certain synthetic food substances in the preparation, processing and packaging of organic foods, creating conditions for a flood of processed organic foods.
The lack of clear standards may rest at the core of the concern over the Organic label. Consumer groups say, without specific standards, the wide discretion given to certifiers has invited producers and farmers to shop around for the certifiers most likely to approve their product.
Sam Welsch, president of the Nebraska-based OneCert said "The rules should be clear enough that there is just one right answer."
