Organic food: no health benefits

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Eating organic food has no discernable benefit to health, a leading food expert claims today.



Despite a general consensus that eating organic product is better for us, respected nutritional expert Lord Krebs - a former head of the Food Standards Agency - says it's actually far more important we eat lots of fruit and vegetables.



'The organic message can sometimes be a distortion from the more important messages,' he explains.



'If a parent is asking, "How can I improve the health of my children?" they may think, "Oh, I can give them organic food". But that is far less important than the decision to feed them more fruit and vegetables, or the decision to give them less salt.'



While head of the Food Standards Agency, Lord Krebs came under pressure to officially endorse organic food as better for people's health – something he refused to do.



Now, with the agency renewing its policy on organic food, and reviewing all the nutritional data it has on both organic and non-organic, Kreb says he's concerned that claims about the benefits of organic food 'add to the mix of confusion in people's minds about what it means to eat healthily'.



On the other side of the fence, however, the Soil Association maintains organic food is better for us.



'There is now a rapidly growing body of evidence which shows significant differences between the nutritional composition of organic and non-organic food,' says a spokesperson.



'Studies have shown that on average organic food has higher levels of iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin C.'



The Food Standards agency itself says, for the time being, it won't be changing its policy.



'The weight of current scientific evidence does not support claims that organic food is more nutritious or safer than conventionally produced food,' claimed a spokesperson.



'However, a number of new studies have recently emerged focusing on nutritional differences between organic and non-organic food.'

Monday 31 March 2008

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Never mind the various arguments over whether organic tastes better or has more nutrients, why does Govenment and its' agencies insist on treating the general public like morons and not acknowledge that it is not healthy to put a strain on the body to eliminate toxic residues from herbicides and pesticides?

Oh - that may have something to do with the influence the big chemical companies have on Government perhaps? Or am I just a silly old cynic?
Comment by lilypink on March 31 10:09

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