Organic is Good for You

Chapter summary

• Organic food is not nutritionally better, and not worse either.
• It may be “cleaner”, with fewer unwanted things going into your body.
• If you have the income and the choice, organic may mean lower pesticide levels, but this is unlikely to matter.
• Eating organic is not the same as eating well.

What organic means

• Crops are grown without conventional pesticides and herbicides, synthetic fertiliser, sewage sludge, bioengineering or radiation.
• Organic animals get organic feed and no growth hormones or routine antibiotics.

The evidence

• Smith-Spangler and colleagues at Stanford reviewed 237 studies: 17 in humans and 220 comparing organic and conventional foods.
• They found the literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods.
• Phosphate levels were somewhat higher in organic produce, but not significantly.
• Two studies showed slightly lower pesticide levels in the urine of children eating organic food.
• Non-organic chickens showed slightly higher antibiotic resistance.
• Bacterial contamination and nutrient levels were mostly similar.

Pesticide residue: two views

• Concerned consumers: Pesticides sound dangerous and organic avoids them.
• Steve Savage’s analysis of USDA data: Older chemicals have been replaced by less hazardous ones. Residues are almost all below legal tolerances. Only 7.8% of detected residues in 2010 were even between 0.1 and 1 times the limit. More than half were below 1% of the limit.
• The author: There is no need to worry about food produced under US, Australian, New Zealand or European rules. He has more concern about food from countries with variable regulation, continued use of banned pesticides and possible high hormone use.
• Counterpoint: Intensive farming practices used in conventional systems raise their own environmental questions, and supporters of organic farming value lower chemical inputs for reasons beyond personal health.

Take-away points

• There are few demonstrated studies on organic food, but emotions run high.
• Spend the money on real food, not the label.
• A whole-food diet matters more than whether it is organic.

References

• Smith-Spangler, C. et al. (2012) Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives? A systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine 157(5):348-366.
• Savage, S. (2012) Do you really need to buy organic foods to avoid pesticide residues? Applied Mythology blog.