Every company processing organic food is required to keep a documented system for product traceability throughout the manufacturing process.
This involves maintaining detailed information about individual raw materials, including specification, supplier and an up to date organic certificate for each ingredient. During storage, processing and transportation of organic food it must be labeled organic and kept separate from non organic ingredients, cleaning agents, pesticides and any other potential contaminants.
Processors follow detailed rules on how organic food can be labeled and marketed. Up to 5% of a few non organic ingredients additives and processing aids, from a specified published list, can be added to organic food. This includes a few raw materials not available organically as well as salt, raising agents etc. Genetically modified ingredients are not permitted in organic food.
Many company documents, together with production records and account information must be made available for annual inspection by the organic certifier.
The Soil Association provides organic certification at Doves Farm Foods and their symbol appears on our packaging. In addition the law requires that we state the traceability of our products on the packaging. We now print the EU leaf logo on all of our products, which has the organic certification code printed beneath it. In our case it is GB-ORG-05 which means that we are certified to grow and manufacture organic products in Great Britain, and are certified by the Soil Assocation (code 05). Underneath this is a statement of where the organic ingredients were farmed, eg: EU Agriculture.
How Can You Tell It Really Is Organic?
Third party auditing by our organic certifier, the Soil Association, is your consumer guarantee that the food you are buying has been checked at each stage, from farm through processing to plate, that it has been produced according to the organic standard. 
You will find the Soil Association symbol, shown here, somewhere on the packaging of all our organic foods and it is your guarantee of ‘organicness’.
Organic Attitudes
- Untreated seed is planted where possible using organic seed.
- Crop rotations develop natural soil fertility.
- Field work & farm husbandry nurture optimum crop health with very limited use of sprays.
- The use of pesticides on stored crops is prohibited.
- Compulsory inspection of farm and all records.
- Restricted use of food additives and processing aids.
- Ingredients not yet available as organic can be used only up to 5% of food.
- Documented separation from non organic ingredients, sanitisers & sprays.
- Compulsory inspection of processor & all processing records.
- No GM seed or ingredients allowed.
