Official: organic really is better

[Guest guest]

Official: organic really is better

 

Jon Ungoed-Thomas

_http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2753446.ece_

(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2753446.ece)

THE biggest study into organic food has found that it is more nutritious

than ordinary produce and may help to lengthen people's lives.

The evidence from the £12m four-year project will end years of debate and is

likely to overturn government advice that eating organic food is no more

than a lifestyle choice.

The study found that organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40%

more antioxidants, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and

heart disease, Britain’s biggest killers. They also had higher levels of

beneficial minerals such as iron and zinc.

Professor Carlo Leifert, the co-ordinator of the European Union-funded

project, said the differences were so marked that organic produce would help to

increase the nutrient intake of people not eating the recommended five portions

a day of fruit and vegetables. “If you have just 20% more antioxidants and

you can’t get your kids to do five a day, then you might just be okay with

four a day,†he said.

This weekend the Food Standards Agency confirmed that it was reviewing the

evidence before deciding whether to change its advice. Ministers and the

agency have said there are no significant differences between organic and

ordinary

produce.

Researchers grew fruit and vegetables and reared cattle on adjacent organic

and nonorganic sites on a 725-acre farm attached to Newcastle University, and

at other sites in Europe. They found that levels of antioxidants in milk

from organic herds were up to 90% higher than in milk from conventional herds.

As well as finding up to 40% more antioxidants in organic vegetables, they

also found that organic tomatoes from Greece had significantly higher levels

of antioxidants, including flavo-noids thought to reduce coronary heart

disease.

Leifert said the government was wrong about there being no difference

between organic and conventional produce. “There is enough evidence now that

the

level of good things is higher in organics,†he said.

_Letter from the Food Standards Agency_

(http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/organicfood1.pdf) | _The Food Standards

Agency's current stance on organic food

_ (http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/organicfood2.pdf)