Organic food is no healthier than ordinary food?
The Food Standards Agency conducted a large independent review & concluded that there is little difference in nutritional value and no evidence of any extra health benefits from eating organic produce.
Gill Fine, FSA director of consumer choice and dietary health, said: “Ensuring people have accurate information is absolutely essential in allowing us all to make informed choices about the food we eat.
“This study does not mean that people should not eat organic food.
“What it shows is that there is little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced food and that there is no evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food.”
She added that the FSA was neither pro nor anti organic food and recognised there were many reasons why people choose to eat organic, including animal welfare or environmental concerns.
Dr Dangour, said: “Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”
He added that better quality studies were needed.
However, the Soil Association criticised the study and called for better research -
Peter Melchett, policy director at the Soil Association said they were disappointed with the conclusions.
“The review rejected almost all of the existing studies of comparisons between organic and non-organic nutritional differences.
“Although the researchers say that the differences between organic and non-organic food are not ‘important’, due to the relatively few studies, they report in their analysis that there are higher levels of beneficial nutrients in organic compared to non-organic foods.
“Without large-scale, longitudinal research it is difficult to come to far-reaching clear conclusions on this, which was acknowledged by the authors of the FSA review.
“Also, there is not sufficient research on the long-term effects of pesticides on human health,” he added.
