Last week, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) issued a joint Fact Sheet regarding the labeling of organic mattresses.
In May 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) issued a Policy Memorandum that changed how mattresses that incorporate organic fibers can be labeled.
Basically, the rule is that “mattresses must be certified to either the USDA organic regulations or the Global Organic Textile Standard, or they may not be labeled as ‘organic.’ ”
What this means in practice is that a mattress must meet one or the other of these requirements:
1) the GOTS certification for “organic mattress” which covers the entire mattress, including all materials used and processing
OR
2) the USDA National Organic Program standards for the raw agricultural products (cotton and wool) used in the making of the mattress.
It’s important to distinguish between a GOTS-certified organic mattress and one that contains organic materials.
A GOTS-certified organic mattress includes organic certification of every step of making the mattress containing organic fiber. This includes spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing and manufacturing, plus an array of environmental and social provision for post-farm to retail shelf management. Included, for example, are a ban on use of child labor, genetic enegineering, heavy metals, and hazardous chemicals. “GOTS certification requires that all processing stages through manufacturing of the finished product take place in GOTS-certified facilities, and all B2B traders involved in the supply chain of GOTS-certified products must be certified to GOTS themselves. Only if these certification requirements are met may a GOTS-certified entity apply the GOTS label (including the GOTS seal) to a final product and claim in promotional materials that their products are GOTS-certified.”
A GOTS-certified organic mattress does contain organic materials and probably even contains USDA certified organic cotton. However, The USDA has no certification for organic mattresses as a product. The USDA has endorsed GOTS to do this certifiction. And, if a mattress has a GOTS certification, it cannot use the USDA certification and logo even if it contains USDA certified organic cotton. The certification is GOTS or USDA, but not both.
So, if a mattress is labeled “organic mattress” it MUST also carry a GOTS certification.
Other mattresses may state “fabric (or filling) contains USDA certified organic cotton” or “fabric (or filling) contains USDA certified organic wool” but they cannot be labeled “organic mattress.” “Made with…” is only permitted for organic products where the organic content is 70-95 percent.
To the best of my knowledge, the only GOTS-certified mattresses currently sold in the USA are Naturepedic and Organic Mattresses Inc, though there are many others that use organic materials.
For more information, read the full Fact Sheet.
