Groups question USDA on organic-food policy

WASHINGTON - Several groups that successfully pushed the Department of Agriculture to drop new guidelines allowing pesticides and antibiotics in organic farming are questioning whether the rules remain in place.

"We are very concerned about the status of the directives that were withdrawn by the USDA," said Joe Mendelsohn III, Legal Director of The Center for Food Safety, in a conference call.

He said that efforts to find out what the USDA is telling its certifiers have been met by a "stonewall" by the department.

Urvashi Rangan, a scientist at Consumers Union in Yonkers, N.Y., said that the USDA has not answered its questions about whether antibiotics or pesticides can be used in food labeled organic.

"Our position is we're very unclear whether they have rescinded the guidelines," she said.

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