Wal-Mart accused of organic food fraud

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Wal-Mart cartoon

From the New Zealand Herald:

Monday January 22, 2007

NEW YORK – Wal-Mart, the controversial retailing giant, is under investigation in the United States over allegations it is trying to pass off non-organic foods as organic.

It has been accused of misleading labelling that is “tantamount to consumer fraud” by an organic farming watchdog, the Cornucopia Institute, which has passed its complaints to the US Department of Agriculture.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is also investigating whether Wal-Mart is placing “natural” produce on shelf space labelled as containing organic items.

The Cornucopia Institute claimed to have found dozens of examples of Wal-Mart’s mislabelling products – from “all-natural yoghurt’ to soya milk “made from organic soybeans”.

See also here.