What exactly does the "organic" label mean? Don't worry, the USDA doesn't know either. The deadline has come and gone for the USDA to decide on a list of 38 non-organic ingredients that will be allowed into all organic food. The list includes things like celery seed, fish oil and hops. We asked Craig Minowa, an environmental scientist, to help us break down what it means when something is labeled organic and why this list of 38 non-organic ingredients is so important.

The 38 non-organic ingredients, half of them food colorings, in organic foods:

Casings, from processed intestines

Celery powder

Chia (herb)

Chipotle chile peppers

Dillweed oil

Fish oil

Frozen galangal (flavoring)

Frozen lemongrass

Fructooligosaccharides (non-digestible carbohydrate)

Gelatin

Hops

Konjac flour

Oligofructose-enriched inulin (fiber additive)

Orange shellac (coating agent)

Rice starch

Sweet potato starch

Turkish bay leaves

Wakame seaweed

Whey protein concentrate

Food colorings

Annatto extract

Beet juice

Beta-carotene derived from carrots

Black currant juice

Black/purple carrot juice

Blueberry juice

Carrot juice

Cherry juice

Chokeberry-aronia juice

Elderberry juice

Grape juice

Grape skin extract

Paprika

Pumpkin juice

Purple potato juice

Red cabbage extract

Red radish extract

Saffron

Turmeric