Are there measureable health benefits from eating organic rather than conventionally produced food?
For many nutrients (such as omega-3 fatty acids, selenium and flavonoids), little information exists to allow a true comparison to be made between the nutritional value of organic food with conventionally produced foods. This is perhaps surprising given the amount of discussion there has been on this in the popular media. Interestingly there is some evidence that organic milk may contain more omega-3 fatty acids than conventional milk. On the surface this sounds like really good news, but the type of the additional omega-3 is actually not one which is very active or useful in humans so in fact there is little benefit. How does the environment impact on any possible health benefits? By eating organic foods, our dietary exposure to man-made pesticides and nitrates is likely to be significantly lower, although there is good evidence that the amounts now present in conventional foods are not a health concern. Indeed there is some new and potentially controversial evidence that a small amou
