None of the AIM products contain the USDA Organic Certification. We have instead chosen to state that our products are residue-free. This can be confusing but here is what we do from a QA and testing perspective. Our products are grown under organic standards and some ingredients are certified organic however we do not certify our packaging facilities organic. Instead we test for the absence of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. This assay looks for over a hundred different classes of pesticides fungicides and herbicides. In addition we also test for residual solvents which over 25 different classes of solvents. The appearance of any of these chemicals will result in an immediate rejection by QA. The testing does not end there….we also test for microbiological (bacteria) safety, heavy metals and several other markers to ensure the highest quality, safest products for our members.
Now organic is a standard that is hard to achieve for any farmer or packager and holds a high standard of quality. The difference between an organic product and AIM is that once a field has been organically certified it does not required to be tested to the standard that AIM tests their products.
Phillip Jerman – AIM Quality Assurance Biologist