If Congress has its way, “organic” might not mean what you think it does.

Slipped into an appropriations bill last week was a change in the standards for what qualifies as “organic” to receive the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s organic seal. Congress has sided with large agri-businesses against small, organic farmers, but the real losers are likely to be consumers, who won’t be able to trust the labels on their food.

The change would change what it means when a product carries the organic label. To qualify for the label, food had to actually be 95 percent organic and 100 percent natural. No synthetic products allowed.

The standards were confirmed in 2002 when Hartford, Maine, blueberry farmer Arthur Harvey sued the government because it was allowing products with synthetic ingredients to be sold as organic.

Organic food has become big business even though it’s still a relatively small part of the total. With just 2 percent of the market, organic food will account for about $14 billion in sales this year up from about $1 billion in 1990. In addition, organic products demand premium prices and attract customers who are willing to pay more to make sure their food doesn’t contain things like artificial growth hormones and were grown without pesticides. The growth in demand makes the niche market a prime target for large food producers.

By lowering the standards for the USDA organic seal, Congress is trying to deliver the organic market to the big players in the food industry. But the effort will more likely destroy the value of the USDA label.

Consumers committed to buying organic food will still seek out products grown naturally and produced without synthetic ingredients. They just won’t be able to rely on the government label any more. They’ll have to do more research on their own.

It’s the casual organic consumers who will suffer. For a while, they might be fooled, but eventually they’ll figure out that to Congress “organic” is all about marketing, not providing an alternative to factory farms and processed foods.