Comparison of Quality and Safety of Organic and Conventional Foods

Abstract

The results of the studies comparing quality and safety of organic and conventional foods are ambiguous and often contradictory. An exception is higher contents of ascorbic acid in some organic products compared with the corresponding conventional foods. Some studies suggest a nutritionally more favourable composition of fatty acids in organic dairy products, which, however, is not a consequence of organic farming but of the diet composition. Many organic foods are more frequently contaminated with mycotoxins than conventional foods. A lower occurrence of pesticide residues in organic foods is irrelevant from the viewpoint of health effects because the intake of pesticides in conventional foods is less than 1 % of the acceptable daily dose. The differences between organic and conventional foods in the markers of nutritive value and safety, and a possible effect on human health are mostly too small to be detected. An exception is a lower eczema risk in infants after consumption of organic dairy products. Sensoric quality of organic foods is the same or lower than that of conventional foods.