Soil Association
The Soil Association is a charity which promotes and develops sustainable approaches to food, farming and other products. It run a standards setting programme to write, update and modify the rules and regulations for organic production and processing as necessary.
The Soil Association, back in 1967, was the first organisation in the country to draw up a set of aims and aspirational principles for producing food. The organic standards, which closely followed, were the practical application of these principles, or at least a vehicle that moved, and keeps moving, us closer towards them.
In 1991, the EU enshrined the term 'organic' in law. It developed a set of standards and each member state interpreted these standards into their own law. In the UK, the Department of the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) was responsible for drawing up these compendium standards. Most other certification bodies in the UK certify to these baseline standards. However the Soil Association standards are higher than the UK baseline standard in many areas.
All of our organic products are certified by the Soil Association who audit our whole supply chain. The certification process includes verifying where our organic products are sourced from, how they are processed (e.g. powders made into capsules), how they are packaged and the information on our labels and packaging. Through its stringent controls, the Soil Association is able to guarantee the organic integrity of the products that it certifies, ensuring that all Soil Association certified products are 100% organic.
For further information on the Soil Association certification programme please contact us. Alternatively, please visit www.soilassociation.org or email pro.cert@soilassociation.org.