Doubts over health benefit of organic food

IRISH consumers spent €66 million on organic food in 2006 according to figures revealed yesterday, but scientists are warning that it could be a waste of money.

Spending on organic produce has almost doubled from €38m in 2003 and is expected to grow to around €400m over the next five years, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday.

The open meeting, Organic Food: Fact or Fiction?, organised by the Food Safety Authority (FSA) heard that almost half of Irish people eat organic, but 54% of the population believe it is too expensive.

A third of people believe organic food is more nutritious while 15% believe it tastes better.

But a number of scientists at the conference said there is no evidence to prove that it has health benefits for humans.

Plant scientist Dr Con O’Rourke said: “While it is often claimed that organic food is more nutritious and tastes better, to date, rigorous scientific evaluation has failed to show significant and consistent differences.”

He said that most claims are based on poorly structured research.

“There is some evidence coming through, although preliminary, from a major EU-funded programme in the UK which indicates that organic crops may have a higher anti-oxidant content.”

A specialist in public health nutrition with the FSA, Dr Mary Flynn, said more studies are needed to confirm the perceived health benefits of organic food.

“If the consumer is buying organic food because of a perception of higher nutritional quality and more health benefits, well-designed and strictly controlled studies are required to support this perception,” she said.

Chef and supporter of organic food, Clodagh McKenna, told the meeting that we need to stop focusing on the scientific aspects of organic food and think about quality.

“We need to be more focused on giving people information about where their food is coming from, how much pesticide is being put into the soil, the welfare of the animals used and trying to make a better ingredient,” she said.

Ms McKenna said organic food should not be perceived as a product for the wealthier classes, and gave the example of Italy, where she now lives, where even the poorest people take pride in what they eat.

“It’s important to support local producers and the more people use organic food, the cheaper it will become,” she said.

* www.fsai.ie