Organic foods and health

Organic food standards have been legally defined in the UK Register of Organic Food

Standards (UKROFTS) and production should be certified by organisations such as the Soil Association.  The large increase in demand for organic produce is a reflection of public unease with some aspects of modern ‘intensive’ food production. But evidence for the nutritional and health benefits of consuming organic foods is not clear.

Expert committees license the pesticides used in UK agriculture on the basis of safety assessments, and monitoring is regularly carried out to check that residue levels are within approved limits (maximum residue levels – MRLs). There are very few reports of adverse health effects from dietary intakes of pesticides. A criticism of the safety assessment of pesticides is that this is done by individual product, and cannot capture additive adverse effects possible with mixtures of pesticides (‘cocktail effect’). To minimise possible exposure, especially in small children, wash and peel fruits before eating

Many studies have examined nutrient contents of organic foods in comparison to conventionally grown produce; most have found no significant nutrient differences. A review of 13 studies comparing the vitamin C contents of different fruit and vegetables, showed higher vitamin levels in organic products in 7 studies, while 6 studies showed no differences. Organic foods may take longer to mature and can have a lower water content than non-organically produce, so differences are most evident in fresh-weight analysis Any nutrient differences are likely to be small compared to the effects of food choice, and consuming more vegetables and fruits will for most people be a more reliable way to increase intakes of nutrients beneficial to health.

January 2006