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Dr. Orrange received her BA in Biology at the University of California, San Diego, and a Masters Degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She received her MD from the USC Keck School of…
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Cha-ching: Organic Foods are Pricier but are They Healthier or Safer?
Posted in Nutrition by Dr. Sharon Orrange on Sep 13, 2012
Organic produce, dairy, and meats often cost twice as much as conventionally grown products. They are expensive and those of us buying organic should wonder: are they more nutritious, safer, or healthier?
A large study out of Stanford released September 4th set out to address this question.
First, what is organic?
- Dr. O
A large study out of Stanford released September 4th set out to address this question.
First, what is organic?
- Grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizersNow that we know the rules organic produce, dairy, and meats must follow, here are the big questions:
- No routine use of antibiotics or growth hormones
- Livestock are fed organically produced feed (free of pesticides and animal byproducts)
- Livestock are provided access to the outdoors, sunlight, fresh air and freedom of movement.
- Organic foods are processed without irradiation or chemical food additives.
1. Is organic more nutritional? Nutrients in organic vs. conventional produce were compared and of the nutrients evaluated only phosphorus was higher in organic foods. The authors looked at Vitamin C, iron, protein, fiber, calcium, among many others, and there were no consistent differences between organic and conventional produce and dairy.There are no long-term studies that suggest outcome of populations are better with organic foods. So I have to ask: are organic foods worth the cost?
2. What about pesticides? There is a difference here, and that is important. Conventional produce had a 30% increased risk of pesticide contamination than organic produce.
3. What about contamination with bacteria? Both conventional and organic meats were commonly contaminated with Salmonella and Campylobacter (yuck.) Here is another important finding: organic produce had a higher risk of contamination with E. coli.
4. What about antibiotic resistant bacteria? Conventional chicken and pork had a higher risk of contamination with antibiotic resistant bacteria than organic. Remember this is important because we worry these resistant bacteria will transfer to humans and cause urinary tract infections, wound infections, etc.
- Dr. O
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Of course that probably won't last much longer because Monsanto and the big corps that are taking over all of the small organic food producers have their way, the regulations for organic food will be so weakened that it really won't matter. And we won't ever know we're already eating bioengineered genetically modified food!
Very sad state of affairs.
Chemically grown produce often has such low levels of important trace elements that the usual assay methods show levels at zero.
And of course studies like these usually ignore the devastating environmental consequences of chemical agriculture.