Garden of Life’s Jeff Brams
chats with one of our organic
pea farming families.
Cleaning up
the Meaning
of Clean
Today, everyone seems to be claiming
that their protein powder is “clean.”
But what do these claims mean? Who defines
But how do you trace clean in a protein?
First, you start with real people, on real farms, planting real seeds.
We start with nature—our organic farmers using organic compost
in the soil, making it rich and full of nutrients; organic seeds (not
genetically engineered); and organic farming practices using
no chemical pesticides, herbicides, etc.
How do we know that our organic farmers
maintain these important practices?
They are audited on site—their purchase records, growing
records, fields, farm houses, equipment and daily practices—
by independent third-party auditing experts in organic
agricultural systems. And these auditing professionals produce
an audit report and actually certify that the crops are grown
without the use of toxic chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
That’s what organic certification actually means.
At Garden of Life ® , clean is a commitment that Second, you ensure that the facilities where the protein in plants
such as organic yellow peas and sprouted organic brown rice
will be concentrated are also audited on site by independent
third-party experts. Again, these professionals produce an audit
report, certifying that the facility is not using harsh chemicals
or genetically modified organism (GMO) ingredients when they
concentrate and powder the protein.
starts with our ingredients. And for us, that That’s traceability in our protein supply chain. Likewise,
clean crops are grown from non-GMO verified seed stock.
“clean,” and who reviews the products to guarantee
that they deliver on their promises to consumers?
all begins with knowing our farmers and
suppliers. Clean begins with traceability.
But what is non-GMO verification?
Today, neither the U.S. government nor any other governmental
body has established a third-party certification system
for non-GMO products. However, the Non-GMO Project
has become the world-recognized authority in the verification
of non-GMO supply chains.
Anyone can say “non-GMO” on a product label, but for a product
to carry the Non-GMO Project Verified logo, the entire supply chain