The short answer is that this spirulina is of higher quality, cleaner and safer than spirulina labelled as “organic”—and it’s North American grown. Here are the facts:
- Landish’s California-grown spirulina was labelled as USDA Organic until 2005. Still now it is organic in all regards (e.g. free of pesticides and herbicides and Non-GMO Project Verified) except one: its use of a water-soluble form of nitrogen, a key nutrient for plants and microalgae.
- In 2005, the USDA removed nitrogen fertilizers (used in virtually all conventional farming) from its list of organic-approved fertilizers in order to protect waterways from nitrogen runoff, which can cause excess algae growth, disrupting ecosystems
- The USDA brought in a new standard, allowing the use of organic matter like compost, manures, cover crops, fish meal, feather meal, blood meal, bone meal, etc. as sources of nitrogen in organic farming
- Landish’s spirulina-growing partner made the highly informed decision not to switch to the new organic sources of nitrogen fertilizer for three key reasons:
- The significant potential for very high bacterial levels and heavy metals in spirulina under the new standard, which would compromise product safety
- The company’s use of pond liners and closed loop water systems in their microalgae farming which had already eliminated any risk of nitrogen runoff (unlike in conventional crop farming)
- The continued ability to claim that this spirulina is animal-free (unlike spirulina produced under the new standard)
- “USDA Organic” spirulina is produced in China and India. This is not a problem in and of itself, but in the case of spirulina, California-grown is the best.
This spirulina is the cleanest, the safest, of the highest quality, and the most efficiently grown in the world: that is why we chose to use it in Landish products.