Whether a multi-ingredient product may be sold as 'organic' is decided by a percentage, and getting it wrong is a labelling violation. This episode sets out the tiers in the PGS-India Standards, what counts as an ingredient, and the processes allowed.
The short version
- 95% or more organic, by weight: may be certified as organic.
- 70% to under 95%: only 'made with organic ingredients'.
- Added water and salt are left out of the calculation.
- Irradiation is not allowed.
The Tiers in Full
Single-ingredient, 100%, 95% and 70% tiers decide what the label may say.
ingredients?"} -->|"One"| B["PGS-India
Organic"] A -->|"Several"| C{"Organic share
by weight?"} C -->|"100%"| D["Label as
Organic"] C -->|"95% or more"| E["Certify as
organic"] C -->|"70% to 95%"| F["Made with organic
ingredients"]
Stated precisely, as the standard puts it:
- Single-ingredient products may be certified as "PGS-India Organic" when all standard requirements have been met.
- Multi-ingredient products where 100% of all ingredients are of PGS-India organic origin may be labelled "Organic", when all requirements are met for every ingredient.
- Where at least 95% by weight of ingredients of agricultural origin are organic — including allowed additives, processing aids and preservatives — products may be certified as "organic".
- Where less than 95% but not less than 70% by weight of agricultural-origin ingredients are organic, the product may not be called "organic" and can only be certified as "made with organic ingredients".
Added water and salt are not included in the percentage calculation. That cuts both ways: a product can't dilute its way to a higher organic share with water, and a producer who has been counting water in the total has been understating their real percentage.
The standard sets no certifiable tier below 70% — it defines "organic" at 95% and above, and "made with organic ingredients" from 70% to under 95%. Products below 70% organic have no PGS-India organic claim available to them.
What Counts as an Ingredient
Agricultural ingredients must be organic; chemical-origin minerals and GMOs are not permitted.
The baseline rule is that all ingredients and additives of agricultural origin must be PGS-organic. Around that:
| Input | Status |
|---|---|
| Water and salt | Unrestricted — and excluded from the percentage |
| Media for fermentation / microbiological products | Must be organic ingredients |
| Commercial microbial formulations as inoculants | Allowed |
| Non-agricultural ingredients (preservatives, additives, processing aids) | Only where organic agricultural ingredients aren't available, following NPOP Appendix 5 |
| Minerals, vitamins and similar of chemical origin | Not permitted |
| Genetically modified organisms or their products | Prohibited |
| Ethylene gas | Permitted for ripening |
Processes You May Use
Mechanical, physical, biological, smoking, extraction, precipitation and filtration; no irradiation.
The processes approved under PGS-India organic are mechanical and physical, biological, smoking, extraction, precipitation and filtration. Where extraction is used, the solvent must be water, ethanol, plant or animal oils, vinegar, carbon dioxide, nitrogen or carboxylic acids — all food grade.
Irradiation is not allowed — the standard says so twice, under processing methods and again under facility pest management, with no threshold or exception.
The storage, separation and packaging rules that apply once the product exists are in the next episode.
Check yourself
Tap an answer to see whether you are right, and why.
A product is 90% organic by weight. How may it be labelled?
- Organic
- Made with organic ingredients
- PGS-India Organic
Organic needs at least 95%.
Is added water counted in the organic percentage?
- Yes
- No
- Only in drinks
Water and salt are excluded.
Remember these things
- 95% for 'organic'.
- 70% to 95% for 'made with organic ingredients'.
- Exclude water and salt.
- No irradiation.
Checking the percentage before printing labels avoids a labelling violation. KrushiFlow validates these fields and submits farmer records to the portal in bulk.