Some organic food products you may have been purchasing for years have changed ownership without changing their labels. If you want to know who processes the canned organic tomatoes you buy, or your organic milk or the cereal you pour it on, take a look at the research of Dr. Philip Howard.

In 2002, the USDA organic standard was implemented. That same year Dr. Howard, an Assistant Professor at Michigan State, created the first chart of Organic Processing Industry Structure: Acquisitions by the Top 30 Food Processors in North America. The latest version of the chart was updated in 2009 and can be downloaded here.

Other charts with information on organic food brands, including those that remain independent, can be viewed on his website.

Organic Industry: The Movie

Only 18 seconds long, this Organic Industry animation shows the industry as it consolidates from 1995 to 2007 into ownership by fewer — and bigger — brands.

Organic brands, investment firms and multinational food processors all play roles in this animated information graphic. It shows an original 81 independent organic brands, some of which were purchased by these investment firms before being sold to multinational food brands.

Watch it if you want to see how the consolidation of organic food brands is shaping up.

Whether it’s food, personal hygiene products, household cleaners or paper products, what do all those labels mean? You know the ones: small logos placed in a row along the back of a package of herbal tea, or the now ubiquitous green and white circle with the words “USDA Organic.”

A great place to find this information is the Consumers Union Guide to Environmental Labels.

You can search by logo, browse an index of labels or suggest a label to add to the database. A stated goal of their web site is “to provide information to consumers regarding eco-labels, products that carry eco-labels, the organizations that produce eco-labels, and government and private standards for “green” products.”

Each label includes a brief report card that assigns a rating to how meaningful the label is considered to be, along with an evaluation of consistency, whether or not information about the standards are publicly available, whether there is conflict of interest, and if the standards the label represents were developed with broad public and industry input.

The in-depth description includes a detailed table of label standards and criteria, a summary description of the organization, contact information and a list of the board of directors. The site was developed by Consumers Union.