Organic food fails the health and taste test

The findings of a two-year trial, published in the March 2011 edition of Which? Gardening magazine, found that there appeared to be few, if any, nutritional or taste benefits to growing three popular garden food crops organically.

According to the Crop Protection Association, this latest study reinforces the conclusions of a comprehensive report produced by the Food Standards Agency in 2009, which found that there were no significant health benefits to be gained from eating organic.

The Which? Gardening trial compared organically and non-organically grown plots of potatoes, calabrese and tomatoes, and found that the conventionally grown crops were generally tastier and more nutritious than their organically grown counterparts.

The non-organic samples of calabrese had significantly higher levels of antioxidants than the organically-grown crops, while the non-organic potatoes contained more Vitamin C than the organic potatoes.

A panel of expert tasters also found that the non-organically grown tomatoes had a stronger tomato flavour and were sweeter than the organic samples. These results were confirmed by sixty-nine per cent of the public in a blind taste test at the Totally Tomato Show at West Dean Gardens in September 2010.

This kind of independent research is exactly what consumers need to make informed food choices, said CPA chief executive Dominic Dyer. In these difficult economic times, with food price inflation hitting record levels, no one should be paying a premium for organic foods in the false belief that they are healthier or more nutritious than conventionally produced foods.

Details of the Which? Gardening trial are available on-line at http://www.which.co.uk/news/2011/02/organic-vs-non-organic-245267/

The Crop Protection Association represents companies in the UK engaged in the manufacture, formulation and supply of crop protection products for use in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, home gardening, industrial and local authority outlets.