As the health issues increase by leaps and bounds in urban areas, there are many people who are looking at ways to improve the lifestyle. The office goers are struggling with sedentary lifestyle and are wanting to break free from the ill-effects of it. There are many who believe that improving the physical activities will help them in keeping fit.
But, there are also people who believe that doing physical activities will not only help in getting fit. They feel that eating habits and choice of foods should also be improved. So, the demand for organic foods has also increased. Organic fruits, vegetables, pulses and organic rice are highly sought after foods these days.
The demand for organic foods is growing because they are considered healthy for people. These foods are produced through organic farming. Organic farming aims at cycling resources, promoting ecological balance and conserving biodiversity. Under this, use of certain pesticides and fertilizers are restricted.
In the layman’s language, these are often the purest food that one can get. They are usually not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or synthetic food additives. Hence, people consider them as a potent alternative to the contaminated foods that are easily available in the market.
As per a report of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), the organic foods market is expected to hit Rs 10,000 crore by 2020. The companies which sell organic products understand that there is great demand in the market. So, the organic products are often priced at a premium level.
While there are no doubts whatsoever over the efficacy of the organic foods, people are often sceptical about how to get the best organic foods from the market. They always complain that they find it difficult to identify where the organic food that they are getting are genuine.
The best answer to that is that people aiming to buy organic foods should look for ‘Jaivik Bharat’ logo on the products. A genuine organic food product carries the ‘Jaivik Bharat’ logo. The presence of logo distinguishes it from the non-organic foods. It testifies that the product is free from any form of pesticides.
People should immediately notice that product is non-organic when there is absence of ‘Jaivik Bharat’ logo. If any company is selling organic foods without the logo then it can be said that they don’t have an FSSAI food licence. This regulation will help the consumers in authenticating the food items.
Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. has also launched organic line of products in over 100 stores across the Delhi-NCR. There are also slew of business which are selling organic products in the market. The regulation regarding the organic foods was the need of the hour.
The FSSAI was cognizant of the fact that there would be fraudulent activities in the market and hence brought certification of organic foods. They are of the view that the streamlining of the whole organic food market may take some time. The fraudulent activities have also been caught in the past.
The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) in 2017 surveyed over 100 companies in the sector based in major cities in India. They found many irregularities in what they claim and what they offer. They also found mixing of organic foods with non-organic ones.
However, people are bullish over the regulation of the organic foods. They believe that it will be easier for them to identify the right product for them. They seem to be quite comfortable with the premium pricing unless the food that they are getting are exactly what they intended for.
