The Cornucopia Institute (CI), an organic farming watchdog agency, is challenging what it calls a conspiracy between corporate agribusiness interests and USDA, which CI says has increasingly facilitated the use of questionable synthetic additives and potentially dangerous chemicals in organic foods. In its white paper, The Organic Watergate, the organization details what it defines as violations of federal law—ignoring congressional intent—that have created a climate of regulatory abuse and corporate exploitation.
When Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, it set up an independent advisory panel, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) that has statutory power. Any synthetic input or ingredient used in organic farming or food production must be reviewed by the NOSB to assure that it is not a threat to human health or the environment, according to CI.