Are Organic Foods Healthier?
"The first time I tried organic wheat
bread,
I thought I was chewing on roofing material."
- Robin Williams
Unless you live in a cave, chances are that you heard
or saw, or
read the results of a Stanford University
study, published in the
September 4, 2012 issue of
Annals of Internal Medicine, which concluded
that
organic foods are neither safer nor healthier than
traditional
pesticide-saturated foods.
After reviewing 240 studies published in
peer-reviewed
scientific journals, researchers concluded:
"...no
significant differences by food type for allergic
outcomes (eczema,
wheeze, atopic sensitization) or symptomatic
Campylobacter infection.
"Two studies reported significantly lower urinary pesticide
levels
among children consuming organic versus conventional
diets, but studies
of biomarker and nutrient levels in serum,
urine, breast milk, and semen
in adults did not identify
clinically meaningful differences.
"All estimates of differences in nutrient and contaminant
levels in foods
were highly heterogeneous except for the
estimate for phosphorus;
phosphorus levels were significantly
higher than in conventional produce,
although this difference
is not clinically significant. The risk for
contamination with
detectable pesticide residues was lower among organic
than
conventional produce (risk difference, 30% [CI, −37% to −23%]),
but differences in risk for exceeding maximum allowed limits
were small.
(THAT MIGHT BE THE WORST-WRITTEN CONCLUSION I'VE READ IN A
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL...I REFER YOU TO: "significantly higher
than in
conventional produce, although this difference is not
clinically
significant." NOW, THAT'S FUNNY! THEY SHOULD
FIRE THE PEER-REVIEWER FOR
MISSING THAT ONE.)
"Escherichia coli contamination risk did not
differ between
organic and conventional produce. Bacterial contamination
of
retail chicken and pork was common but unrelated to farming
method.
However, the risk for isolating bacteria resistant to
3 or more
antibiotics was higher in conventional than in organic
chicken and pork
(risk difference, 33% [CI, 21% to 45%])."
After reviewing the studies
which were financed by various
agricultural industry producers, the
authors make two curious
points which are more representative of comedy
and not science:
"Studies were heterogeneous and limited in number,
and publication bias may be present."
"Consumption of organic
foods may reduce exposure to
pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant
bacteria."
Which brings me to yesterday's (09/14/2012) dairy
industry poll. Dairy Herd asked its readers:
"Do you think organic
foods are healthier than
conventionally produced foods?
http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-news/poll/169654926.html?pid=169654926&action=v&pollSubmit=
Y&mr=1&oid=1&pid=169654926&cid=8500984
Tiny URL:
http://tinyurl.com/9n26ygw
I
was surprised to read that 88 percent of dairy producers
answered "no"
while only 12 percent responded "yes".
Had I asked that same question
of notmilk readers, I
expect that the percentages would have been
reversed.
As for me, I will continue to purchase organic produce
grown in the United States. That way, my body will be
free of pesticides,
unlike the bodies of those farmers
and their families who believe that
there are no differences
between food with poison added and natural
unprocessed food.
Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
http://www.Twitter.com/TheRealNotmilk
