The Inst. of Food Technologists has issued this Scientific Status Summary to update readers on the organic foods industry.
This review discusses the differences between organic foods and conventional foods with respect to food safety and nutritional composition and makes clear that several qualitative differences exist.
Organic foods and conventionally grown foods are not the same. However, the health tradeoffs are not all on the side of organic, and maybe not even generally.
it is premature to conclude that either food system is superior to the other with respect to safety or nutritional composition. Pesticide residues, naturally occurring toxins, nitrates, and polyphenolic compounds exert their health risks or benefits on a dose-related basis, and data do not yet exist to ascertain whether the differences in the levels of such chemicals between organic foods and conventional foods are of biological significance.
The specifics are interesting.
