From what I read ( I'm definitely not claiming to be any kind of expert on this), There are 'Certification Procedures) which a company, farm ..must abide by to be legally considered Organic ( which differ from country to country). And with these procedures comes 'Certification Costs' that the company / farms must pay to be allowed to advertise as being an Organizing Food Product. And with this Certification comes the involvement of government, and we all know how that works.
So are there laws and regulations? Absolutely. Does everyone follow these laws ? I would hope so, but I would be naive to think that people/ companies aren't greasing politicians to look the other way so they can pass whatever certifications they may need to get that " Organic' word on their label.
How often do we see on the news about recalls or fines to companies, who get caught with their pants down, after an independent study, by some 20/20 or 60 minutes type of journalists who run random tests and find out the product isn't what you think it is ?
Or lets take the politician in Michigan who ( Im not sure of the exact details, but was in the news recently) who said the water was safe, just to find out there were astronomical levels of lead in the water. We all know anything grown their, using such a high lead water base as irrigation, can't be all that healthy for you, yet up until a few months ago, no one knew.
So getting back to my original post on this thread. I try to stick with places I know , and hopefully I can trust, to get my produce and food products. And if I can grow it myself, I do ( at least for the months Mother Nature allows me to).
Sadly, the mighty dollar often over shadows peoples / companies values. If there is a way to maximize profits by cutting corners, greasing politicians, duping the public, just to get that ' table' on the product for advertising purposes, they will do it. Only one benefiting out of this are the Politicians who get greased, the companies who are benefiting from the increased mark-up by having those health ' tag words' on their packaging, and the lawyers who ultimately have to defend the companies after an independent study was performed ( sorry politicians and lawyers, nothing personal). And the only ones who get hurt, are the consumers who get charged in excess for this organic certifying process, and often don't get what they are paying for.
Marketing also has a field day with this as well. How often do you on the label, " Natural Fruit juice", then you read the fine print, and that only accounts for 5% of the juice. Or the terms Antioxidants, Organic, Whole Grain, Cleansing, 100% natural... Often products may technically fall in to the above category, but are loaded up with other things that may not be healthy for you, but still fit the qualifications to have a certain word on its label ( Notice how the unhealthy stuff isn't in big print). Gluten Free, is the latest health catch-word. Trust me, I'm in the medical profession, I know that there are many issues where a gluten free diet is mandatory for a persons health. But the marketing people are smart, and take these words and pound them into our brains to sell their products. 99% of the time, the consumer doesn't even know what these terms mean, they just know it is associated with good health, and therefore, worth the extra price.
The above is totally my option. May or may not be 100% factual, but Im kinda guessing Im not that far off base.
Sorry guys, this is what happens when I can't sleep, get up at 4am, and go on a rant.
Oh, and another thing, Im fully aware that you can't believe everything you find on the internet. For every article I find to back up my opinions, everyone else can find another that counteracts my thoughts. Guess the internet makes us all experts, and watching Dr. Oz makes us all physicians
One more disclaimer, as unfortunately people are starting to feel like they are being singled out or verbally attacked, My above response was written with no direct person or forum member or in fact, no country in mind. Its just my answer to the original post as to why, for the most part, I agree and feel that we are getting ripped off, and we should all be wise consumers as to what we buy , where we get it from, and how much we pay.
One company had every single can of vegetable labeled "Gluten Free". I never knew that canned green beans, peas and so many other veggies might have gluten in them. I have always associated gluten with products that contained flour. I better read up on exactly what gluten is. 
