Got organic milk?

You can never find a copy editor when you need one. Had someone detected a seemingly minor discrepancy between the photo of a product that appeared in a print ad and the item sold in stores, the retailer could have avoided some recent negative publicity. The issue involved Silk-brand soy milk and Target’s use of a product photo that included the word organic. Unfortunately, the photo was old, and the soy milk being sold in stores wasn’t organic. A group called the Cornucopia Institute noticed the discrepancy and brought the attention to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Associated Press, which obliged the watchdog group with coverage of the matter.

Target chose not to respond, but such instances, isolated as they may be, tend to reinforce existing negative perceptions within the more conspiratorial segments of the organic community that larger retailers can not be trusted, and, given the opportunity, will cut corners and weaken organic standards.