Some organic farmers and activists claim that the organic label in the U.S. has been reduced into a gimmicky marketing tool designed to cash in on the growing demand for organic food products. They also expressed their concerns over loosening regulations as well as the alleged violations of the USDA organic standard by two hugely popular organic brands, Horizon Organic and Aurora Organic Dairy.

The US Department of Agriculture says that any product that carry the "USDA organic" should have at least 95% of its ingredients farmed without using chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, pesticides or any other methods considered unnatural or harmful to the environment. Organic or sustainable farming techniques that merit the 'USDA organic' label include using ducks and insects for pest and weed control, and water conservation and natural methods of soil replenishment.

Making things more complicated is the label "natural". Food products tagged as "natural" is apparently not synonymous with "organically farmed". "Natural" indicates that a product contains no artificial ingredients or artificial food coloring, but how the ingredients were grown or raised is another story.

"It is sort of a marketing gimmick," said Cindy Moore, director of Nutrition Therapy at the Cleveland Clinic. "If you have a product with limited nutrients, making them with organic products isn't going to make it better."

But as far as many consumers are concerned, "organic" equals "healthy" and there are studies that support the equation. Organic food is better for children because their bodies can't handle pesticide residues very well, and the USDA-certified organic label guarantees these products do not contain some 300 synthetic food additives allowed by the FDA in conventional food products.

For others however, buying organic is their way of supporting environment-friendly establishments. Organic food sales in the US grew from 17% to 20% for the past few years while sales of conventional food grows at only about 2% to 3% annually.