Organic Food Gets the Nod

Consumer Reports magazine, known and respected for its thorough investigative reporting on product safety and efficacy, gave organic produce two thumbs up in its January 1998 issue. To put organic foods to the test, about 1,000 pounds of produce—both organic and commercial—were purchased in five cities around the U.S., then tested for the presence of more than 300 synthetic pesticides. Appearance and taste were also evaluated. Here are the results:

• Twenty-five percent of the organic samples had traces of pesticides, compared to 77% of the conventional samples. (It was not known if the pesticide residues on the organic samples came from deliberate applications by farmers, or if they resulted from drift from neighboring fields and other unintentional contamination.)

Since some pesticides are far more harmful than others, and the degree of contamination varies, the mere presence or absence of pesticides does not indicate the level of danger. Taking all factors into consideration, the organic samples consistently had the least-toxic pesticide residues.

• A panel of judges could detect no taste differences between the organic and conventionally grown produce.
• The organic fruits and vegetables were judged as attractive in appearance as their conventional counterparts.

Using organic foods promotes sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices, which are less likely to kill wildlife, degrade soil, pollute drinking water, and poison farm workers. For that reason alone, organic is superior. But consuming organic foods also means less intake of potentially toxic chemicals.

But the question remains, does a lifetime of consuming tiny, daily amounts of pesticides cause harm? No one knows.

What we do know is that farmers who work with pesticides, when compared with non-farm workers, suffer more of certain kinds of cancers, as well as high rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Lab animals given large doses of pesticides exhibit reproductive and immune problems, and many pesticides have recently been recognized as potential endocrine disrupters.

Based largely on animal tests, the government has set legal safety limits on pesticide residues, but no one knows how applicable these standards are to humans. A further cause for concern is that the limits are set as if people just consumed just one pesticide, yet most produce contains several, and additional pesticide exposure comes from home pesticide use and polluted drinking water.

How does organic stack up against conventional produce nutritionally? Consumer Reports chose not to test this issue, because there have been many studies in the past with no conclusive results to show for the effort. According to an expert at the Tufts University School of Nutrition Science, the farming method probably does affect nutrition, but in ways that are so complex "you might be studying the problem forever." Based on information in: Consumer Reports, Jan 1998