The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) regulations allow for the use of non-organic ingredients that are produced and handled without the use of excluded methods, in accordance with 7 CFR 205.105(e)-(g).

The product is produced and handled without the use of excluded methods, genetic engineering, or genetically manipulated organisms or ingredients, as described below. This product is not derived from products or ingredients that contain genetically modified organisms (GMO) and has not been produced with GMO processing aids. Microbial substrate, feedstocks, or culture media consumed or removed are not required to be produced without excluded methods.

For yeast products: Yeast is not grown on petrochemical substrate or sulfite waste liquor.

For citric acid products: This citric acid is produced by microbial fermentation of a carbohydrate substance.

For enzymes: This enzyme is derived from edible, nontoxic plants, nonpathogenic fungi, or nonpathogenic bacteria. The organism or microorganisms used to produce the enzyme were produced and handled without the use of genetic modification.

For metal proteinates: The protein was not sourced from slaughter by-products.

Excluded methods are defined at 7 CFR 205.2 as a variety of methods used to genetically modify organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not possible under natural conditions or processes and are not considered compatible with organic production. Such methods include cell fusion, microencapsulation and macroencapsulation, and recombinant DNA technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a foreign gene, and changing the positions of genes when achieved by recombinant DNA technology). Such methods do not include the use of traditional breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in vitro fertilization, or tissue culture. Prohibited excluded methods include but are not limited to:

Targeted genetic modification (TagMo)
syn. Synthetic gene technologies
syn. Genome engineering
syn. Gene editing
syn. Gene targeting
• Sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs)
• Meganucleases
• Zinc finger nuclease (ZFN)
• Mutagenesis via Oligonucleotides
• CRISPR-Cas system (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) and associated protein genes
• TALENs (Transcription activator-like effector nucleases)
• Oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis (ODM) Rapid Trait Development System

Gene Silencing
• RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM)
• Silencing via RNAi pathway
• RNAi pesticides

Accelerated plant breeding techniques
• Reverse Breeding
• Genome Elimination
• FasTrack
• Fast flowering

Synthetic biology
• Creating new DNA sequences
• Synthetic chromosomes
• Engineered biological functions and systems

Cloned animals and offspring
• Somatic nuclear transfer

Plastic transformation

Cisgenesis
• The gene modification of a recipient plant with a natural gene from a crossable-sexually compatible-plant. The introduced gene includes its introns and is flanked by its native promoter and terminator in the normal-sense orientation.

Intragenesis
• The full or partial coding of DNA sequences of genes originating from the sexually compatible gene pool of the recipient plant and arranged in sense or antisense orientation. In addition, the promoter, spacer, and terminator may originate from a sexually compatible gene pool of the recipient plant.

Agro-infiltration

Transposons – Developed via use of in vitro nucleic acid techniques

Induced mutagenesis
• Developed through in vitro nucleic acid techniques