What does 'Bio' mean?

Producers, manufacturers and the retail trade are offering a great variety of products labelled with corresponding names. But which ones are really of certified eco or organic quality? There is one simple rule that guides the way through the jungle of terms and phrases: "Only if the label says 'Bio' or 'Öko' then the package contains organic or eco products" since the terms "Bio" and "Öko" are legally protected.

The EU Regulation on Organic Farming for example protects terms such as:

• "bio / eco" (Bio- / Öko-)
• "organic / ecological" (biologisch/ ökologisch)
• "controlled ecological / organic" (kontrolliert ökologisch / biologisch)
• "organic / ecological farming" (biologischer / ökologischer Landbau)
• "organic-dynamic" (biologisch-dynamisch)
• "biological-organic" (biologisch-organisch)

These protected terms may only be used in labelling a product if at least 95 percent of the ingredients of agricultural origin come from organic farming. Water, salt, yeast and a few expressly authorised additives (they are listed in an Annex of the EU Organic Farming Regulation and are regularly reviewed) are not considered agricultural ingredients and are therefore not taken into account in this calculation.

Thus, consumers can rest assured that products labelled with any of these terms at least meet the standard of the EU Organic Farming Regulation.

Attention: At present, there still are some products on the German market with trademarks containing the word "bio" that have been registered and protected before the EU Organic Farming Regulation became effective. These products may keep using the term until the year 2006 even though they are not produced organically. Examples are "Biofit", "Bioreform" or "Bioghurt".

Besides the Bio-Siegel many organic foods also feature the logo of one of the eight organic farming associations: Biokreis, Bioland, Biopark, Demeter, Ecovin, Gäa, Naturland or Ökosiegel. This means that not only were the EU Organic Farming Regulation observed in the production of the agricultural ingredients and of the final product but also the guidelines of the respective association which are partly even stricter.

Furthermore, German grocers have their own organic food brands which they also advertise. These include, e.g., "Alnatura", "Bio aus ökologischer Erzeugung" (Bio from organic farming), "BioBio", "Naturkind", "Bio Wertkost", "Füllhorn" or "Naturkost Grünes Land". Organic products by health food producers carry a green leaf with the inscription "Bio".

Misleading Terms

Phrases such as:

• "from controlled farming" (aus kontrolliertem Anbau)
• "from state-approved farms" (von staatlich anerkannten Bauernhöfen)
• "under independent control" (unter unabhängiger Kontrolle)
• "not treated" (ungespritzt)
• "without crop protection sprays" (ohne Spritzmittel)
• "from integrated agriculture" (aus integrierter Landwirtschaft)
• "from contractual farming" (aus Vertragsanbau)
• "from alternative animal husbandry" (aus alternativer Haltung)
• "from environmentally sound farming" (aus umweltschonendem Anbau)

give the wrong impression, they make these products sound like organic foods as well.

But all these terms do not mean that the products are of organic origin.

If the terms "naturally pure" (naturrein) or "natural" (natürlich) are used, this means that the products contain neither additives nor residues of crop protection products or animal pharmaceuticals and that they have not been irradiated. However, this does not at the same time mean that they were grown organically.