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'Natural' (NOT a certification)
Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing
AB (Agriculture Biologique) logo
AB (Agriculture Biologique)
France · Tier 2 Trusted
Demeter International logo
Demeter International
Global · Tier 2 Trusted
What it meansThe word 'natural' on packaging is a marketing term, not a certification. In most jurisdictions there's no legal definition, no standard, and no inspection. A product labelled 'natural' can contain synthetic ingredients, pesticides, GMOs, and artificial flavours.France's national organic mark, owned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Sits alongside the EU Leaf on virtually all French organic packaging.The certification mark for biodynamic agriculture. Stricter than any government organic standard: it covers the entire farm as a closed ecosystem, follows a planting calendar tied to lunar/solar cycles, and bans many practices the baseline organic rules permit.
ScopeSeveral categoriesFoodSeveral categories
Established—19851928
InspectionNoneAnnual on-site by French-accredited certifiersAnnual on-site by Demeter-accredited inspectors
Residue testingNoneRisk-basedRisk-based on top of organic
Guarantees
  • Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.
  • EU baseline organic (EU 2018/848).
  • Annual on-site inspection by accredited French certifiers (Ecocert, Bureau Veritas, Qualité-France).
  • All organic standards PLUS biodynamic preparations and whole-farm planning.
  • Whole-farm certification (not single fields/products).
  • Annual on-site inspection by Demeter-accredited inspectors.
  • Animal welfare standards stricter than baseline organic.
Does NOT
  • Doesn't mean organic. Doesn't mean pesticide-free. Doesn't mean GMO-free. Doesn't mean ethically produced.
  • Some markets (e.g. the US FDA on food, EU on cosmetics) place very limited restrictions on the word, but enforcement is weak.
  • Same standard as the EU Leaf — AB is the brand consumers recognise, not a stricter rule.
  • Biodynamic philosophy includes esoteric elements (lunar planting, herbal preparations) that many scientists view as non-evidence-based — the agronomic outcomes are still good, the underlying claims about cosmic forces are not testable.

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