Published on 10 October 2024

Processing and trade

For a foodstuff to be labelled as «organic», at least 95% of the ingredients of agricultural origin must be organic. Organic food should be natural and not highly processed, with the use of additives and non-organic ingredients kept to a minimum.

Brief overview

Organic food should be as natural as possible, which is why processing should be carried out carefully. Since many processing plants produce both conventional and organic food, the flow of products must be kept apart. It is therefore important to ensure that the processes in the processing plant are separated not only physically but also with a time delay. This ensures that contamination cannot occur.

The use of additives should be kept to a minimum when organic foods are processed. Furthermore, non-organic ingredients with primarily technical and sensory functions and processing aids must be used sparingly. Their use is permitted in cases where they are an essential technological requirement. The approved substances are regulated in Annex 3 of the EAER Ordinance on Organic Farming (SR 910.181). Vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients may only be used if nutritional requirements cannot be met without them.

For a foodstuff to be certified as organic, at least 95 per cent of the ingredients of agricultural origin by weight must be organic. A maximum of five per cent of the ingredients by weight may consist of authorised non-organic ingredients that are verifiably not available on the market in organic quality. Water and salt are not deemed ingredients of agricultural origin, whereas yeast, yeast products and flavourings are.

The Ordinance on Organic Farming states that the organic ingredients on the ingredients list may be marked as such and must be certified.

Further information

The FOAG provides a reduced English-language version of its website that does not include all further information such as documents, legislation or links. These can be found on the pages in the three official languages (German, French and Italian).

Contact for questions

Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG
Quality and Sales Promotion Unit
Schwarzenburgstrasse 165
Switzerland - 3003 Bern