Product Guidelines
Our product guidelines, authored by our board of trustees, dictate how we make purchasing decisions. Member-owners can contribute to our ongoing product dialogue by attending meetings of the product issues committee.We emphasize
• Basic, whole foods available in bulk• Organically grown products
• Locally harvested produce
• Locally crafted products
• Foods that accommodate limited and special diets
• High-quality nutritional supplements
• Natural household and personal products
• Freshness and value
We minimize
• Unnecessary preservatives and additives• Highly processed and refined foods
• Environmentally hazardous products
• Products tested on animals
• Irradiated or genetically engineered foods
• Excessive packaging
Product Exclusions List
The following products and ingredients will not knowingly be purchased or offered for sale by Central Co-op:• Tobacco products
• Artificial flavors
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Hydrogenated oils
• Trans fats
• Nitrites
• Nitrates
• Genetically Modified Organisms*
• Recombinant bovine growth hormones
• Irradiated products*
*Given the failure of the United States government to mandate or allow labeling of GMO and irradiated products, Central Co-op will make every reasonable effort to exclude these items, including offering organic products, which are mandated to be GMO-free, and working with vendors who pledge that their products meet our standards.
A Reference to the Corporate Owners of Natural Products
Although we prefer to divorce the concepts natural and organic from multinational corporations, they are inextricably linked. Conglomerates have purchased product lines from once independent producers while simultaneously developing their own trademarked natural product lines in response to the growing demand for nutritious food.As a socially responsible community business, we strive to empower you to make enlightened decisions concerning who and what you support when you shop.
