When they buy "organic" foods, consumers can now be a little more confident they are getting something produced and processed without chemical fertilizers, pesticides or preservatives. Starting tomorrow, fruit, vegetables, meat, milk and other products labeled organic can carry a Department of Agriculture seal.

The seal will testify that the U.S.D.A. has examined the practices of farmers, processors and packagers to ensure standards Congress set in 1990. Meats and dairy products can be labeled organic only if the animals were not given growth hormones, for example, or antibiotics. Chips, frozen dinners or other foods with organic products can be certified as organic if 95 to 100 percent of the ingredients meet the standards. If at least 70 percent are organic, the food can be labeled "made with organic ingredients"; if less than 70 percent, the food cannot have distinct labels, but organic contents can be listed on the nutrition panel.

Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit health advocacy group in Washington discussed the new labeling in a recent interview.   

Q. Why did you support federal oversight of organic food labels?

A. There were lots of suspicions that people out there were charging twice as much for conventionally grown food simply by putting it under a sign that said organic. That could have been hurting consumers if there was some deception in the market. It was also hurting the organic industry, because people simply hadn't had the confidence that food they were buying was really organic. The way of conveying to a consumer that a food is grown organically is to put a label on the food. The label needs to mean something, and the law will ensure that it does.

Q. Might some farmers opt out of certification and forgo an organic seal, since the process is voluntary?

A. I'd be surprised that farmers who go to the expense of growing foods organically and want to market them as organic wouldn't get certification. It's like a ticket to print money, because you can get a significant premium. The same thing for retailers. They charge more money for organic food, so you want to use organic whenever you can.

Q. Will companies pass on to consumers the cost of redesigning packaging to showcase the seal?

A. That's a trivial part of the cost of the final price of the food.

Q. Will seals make people think organic is healthier than non-organic?

A. I suspect a lot of people think organically grown food is more nutritious than conventionally grown food. I haven't seen evidence of that. People also think organically grown food is safer. It might be a bit safer, but the general food supply is basically safe. Organically grown food could be contaminated with dangerous bacteria. It could be high in saturated fat. Hopefully, people won't think that just because it's organic, it's automatically perfectly fine.

Q. Who will benefit most from the new labels?

A. Organic farmers and retailers. The label is going to increase consumer confidence and really build this market. Twelve years ago, we really were hoping that this legislation would help small farmers and food co-ops. That world is changing where now we have billion-dollar supermarket chains, huge multithousand-acre organic farms. Because organic agriculture is more labor intensive, that's an incentive to import organic foods from low-wage countries like Mexico. It's going to be interesting to see who are the ultimate beneficiaries. It may not be the small local farmer or the local food co-op. It may be big farms in Mexico.