Organic Tibetan Goji Berries

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Permalink Reply by Mariam on June 17, 2009 at 11:34am

which companies? Mountainroseherbs.com goji berries are certified organic

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Permalink Reply by Gail on June 17, 2009 at 11:40am

Hi, These were 2 companies in the UK who told me this info www.gojiking.co.uk and www.buygojiberriesonline.co.uk

both have certified organic gojis on their sites...not sure why this is the case but they wouldn't supply us organic gojis they said because of this...bare in mind this is info sourced seperately from 2 suppliers. That's why I thought I should def share as who knows if other companies would be so willing to say!

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Permalink Reply by Mariam on June 17, 2009 at 11:44am

oh i didnt read your entire post....you're talking about for European companies

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Permalink Reply by Paddy on June 18, 2009 at 6:40am

Hi Gail :)
These articles are pretty interesting http://wolfberry.org/documents/ParryFruitlessSearchforGoji12-06.pdf and http://www.tibetinfonet.net/content/update/124 in regard as to wether gojis are even from Tibet.

I remember Shazzies discontinued here gojis for a period of time becaue they had been contaminated with pesticides, herbicides etc.

The two I usually buy are the tibetan authentic that used to be available in Tesco and also the ones from Natural Zing in the U.S.A that are available here in the U.K http://www.vibrationalgaiarising.com/p/600744/goji-berries-authenti.... I have also bought from Shazzies site too in the past beacuse I trust her products to be organic if they say so.

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Permalink Reply by Gail on June 18, 2009 at 7:32am

Hi guys,

Paddy, Thanks for the articles! I have read the first article before so know about this.

From what we've been told, The Organic Tibetan Goji Berry Company has the strong hold on all goji berries. This site http://www.gojiberry.com actually states...All Goji berry supply world wide is processed through the office of the Tibetan Goji Berry Company. So, Mariam, this would still apply to any in the states if true, as the problem is at source where the berries have been grown.

The story goes that the berries were certified organic by their standards and then the EU checked and found two types of pesticide residue on them so determined them not to be organic as stated!

If this is the case for 2 companies we spoke to recently then I guess it must be the same everywhere? I am not sure if this applies to Chinese wolfberries, but assume it must apply to all goji's if everything has to by pass The Tibetan Goji Berry Company??? (Think there are prob alot of wolfberries that are actually labelled as goji berries anyhow! lol)

The EU has probably picked up on this because the organic ones had already been certified so they needed to check they were indeed organic, whereas the other gojis don't go through the same rigerous process so haven't been checked for extra pesticides ;) lol

Anyhow, the consensus seems to be that there are no ORGANIC gojis available at the moment.

Here is part of the email I was sent yesterday by one supplier:

At the moment, no goji dealers have organic goji, simply none. The new
harvest is due to start next month, we are hoping to get some in the coming
September.

My thinking is that this must be the case if 2 suppliers are not willing to supply us with ORGANIC gojis until a few months time!

Gail.x....would be interesting to see what Big Chain shops say about this!

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Permalink Reply by Debbie Took on June 18, 2009 at 8:14am

How about trying to grow your own?

I've just had a goji plant arrived today. Fingers crossed!

(I'm in cool UK.)

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Permalink Reply by Gail on June 18, 2009 at 8:26am

Hey Debbie!

Sounds like a fabby idea but not sure how it would grow in my tiny flat? Any tips?

Just read the second article Paddy...had a good old laugh at the website which tells the story of the chinese monk who found the goji fountain of youth! lol

Also, last paragraph interesting:

But even if it was not, the additional claim that the berries grow "without pesticides or fertilizer" is patently absurd because the use of fertilizers and pesticides is widespread on the whole Tibetan Plateau, especially when crops are grown for market. Finally, it must be remarked that Chinese farmers in Ningxia or Xinjiang, where wolfberries are actually grown, are particularly infamous for their gratuitous pesticide and fertilizer use. This also applies to products that are claimed to be grown according to 'green' practices, the Chinese equivalent of the American 'organic' or European 'bio' labels. China still lacks a functioning licensing and verification framework to guarantee 'green' production methods.

Think I'd like my own pesticide tester! lol

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Permalink Reply by Debbie Took on June 18, 2009 at 8:30am

'Sounds like a fabby idea but not sure how it would grow in my tiny flat? Any tips?'

Hmm...maybe not! You could ask someone you know with a garden nearby if they could give you a little space.

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Permalink Reply by Gail on June 18, 2009 at 9:16am

I really need to move don't I ;) lol

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Permalink Reply by Chris Lion-Raw on June 18, 2009 at 8:49am

just thought Id throw this one in the mix - are they even raw ??
they've obviously been dried, but how ??
whenever Ive tried rehydrating them they go really mushy, I think Debbies idea is great - grow your own
then you know they are organic and raw !

blessed

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Permalink Reply by Gail on June 18, 2009 at 9:17am

Hmmm, this is true and something I've wondered about with "sundried" tomatoes. I'd really like to find a source to see how drying really works!?

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Permalink Reply by Gail on June 18, 2009 at 6:50pm

Hi Everyone,

I contacted Rawliving, Kate Wood's site based here in the UK and this is the response Chris kindly said I could share with you all:

We didn't offer any goji berries for over a year as we only wanted to
stock the best, and the best were organic (amongst other criteria). We
had so many batches tested and none passed as organic - we did have
one batch that passed certification in germany but not in the uk (and
germany is supposed to be tougher)!

The gojis we currently stock, were the closest to passing as we were
likely to get and we're very happy to have them. I eat them, as do my
boys.
Compared to most other gojis on the market, these are incredible
quality.

What the companies you contacted said is true. However, we saw no need
to wait any longer (and we have so many other wonderful products we
weren't being impatient)

I hope this is useful

Best wishes
Chris

Ps of course, that a product is certified organic, doesn't mean it is
the best quality. Many farmers and companies can't afford the
certification process, or choose to rest on their reputation for taste
& quality.

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