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Is Organic Food Worth the Price?

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

UNHEALTHY SALES of organic food are growing by Pounds 2million a week as consumers become increasingly health-conscious. But is it worth going to the trouble - and expense - of seeking out organic produce? Here, KATE WATSON-SMYTH and nutritionist ANGELA DOWDEN advise when to go organic.

Chicken

Organic whole chicken, Pounds 9.98

Non-organic whole chicken, Pounds 4.28

FOR ORGANIC: YOUR ready-to-cook supermarket chicken will have spent its short life in a crowded cage or a packed barn, and fed daily doses of drugs to stave off disease and fatten it up quickly.

Some scientists blame the chemicals which pass through into the meat for our resistance to antibiotics.

Organic chickens are reared in a more humane and healthy environment, roaming outside with access to grass. Growth-promoting drugs are banned, which means they contain fewer chemicals and are less fatty.

AGAINST: ORGANIC chicken is more expensive. Some nonorganic chickens, such as free range, are also raised without chemicals. So if you know where your chicken has come from, there may be no need to buy organic.

VERDICT: IF YOU buy supermarket chicken, then buy organic.

Salmon

Organic salmon fillets, Pounds 15.05 per kilo

Farmed salmon fillets, Pounds 6.47 per kilo

FOR ORGANIC: ORGANIC salmon is usually farmed in large nets, so the fish can swim much further than intensively farmed fish. This means it has a higher muscle/fat ratio, which may be healthier, as some experts believe that toxins in the water which are absorbed by fish are held in the fat. While organic fish are still exposed to environmental pollutants present in all water, the pollution levels are carefully monitored and the use of additional chemicals - such as growth promoters and antibiotics - are not allowed. Also, the feed is not allowed to contain colourants (which is why the fish is paler than intensively farmed salmon).

AGAINST: ORGANIC salmon is more than twice the price of nonorganic.

Mercury and dioxins (by-products of industry found in most water) are present in both kinds of salmon.

VERDICT: IF YOU can afford it, buy organic.

Milk

Organic full-fat milk, 55p a litre

Full-fat milk, 49p a litre

FOR ORGANIC: A RECENT study at the University of Aberdeen found organic milk has up to 71 per cent more essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and higher levels of vitamins A and E.

This is thought to be because it comes from cows that have been allowed to forage and eat grass and clover, rather than the concentrated cereal fed to many non-organic cattle.

Omega 3 helps maintain a healthy heart, supple joints, strong bones and brain function.

AGAINST: THE research really only applies to full-fat milk, as the vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble, so when the fat in the milk is taken out, levels are depleted.

VERDICT: BUY organic especially if buying whole milk for young children.

Beef

Organic joint of beef, Pounds 8.69 per kilo

Non-organic joint of beef, Pounds 5.15 per kilo

FOR ORGANIC: MOST non-organic British cattle are given antibiotics, fed chemical formula milk after birth and fattened with high-protein food.The grass they graze may also have been treated with fertilisers and weed killers.

Organically-reared calves feed from their mothers when they are born.

Research has found organic beef has higher levels of heartprotecting omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin E because their diet is higher in non chemically treated grass.

AGAINST: BRITISH farmers do not use growth hormones as they do in some other countries. Nor are our cattle intensively reared, spending much of their time grazing naturally.

As a result, British beef, even non-organic, is comparatively healthy and humanely produced.

VERDICT: THERE'S no need to buy organic beef as long as you buy British and avoid low-quality cuts.

Lettuce

Organic babyleaf salad, Pounds 1.87 per 100g

Tenderleaf salad, 83p per 100g

FOR ORGANIC: LETTUCE is sprayed with more pesticides than any other vegetable crop, says Rose Prince, author of The New English Kitchen (Pounds 18.99 Fourth Estate). Residues of iprodione, a potential carcinogen, have been found on British-sold lettuce, she says. Pre-prepared salads are washed in water with a chlorine disinfectant and covered in preservatives.

AGAINST: THERE is a big price difference between organic and non- organic - more than double the normal cost.

If the extra expense puts you off, the British Nutrition Foundation says it is better to eat non-organic salad than none at all.

VERDICT: BUY organic to avoid pesticides.

Wine

Organic Australian Chardonnay, Pounds 3.49

Tesco Australian Chardonnay, Pounds 2.44

FOR ORGANIC: STRICTLY speaking, it is the grapes that are organic, not the wine itself. That is why you will see labels that read 'wine made from organically grown grapes'. Most pesticides cannot be used in an organic vineyard and the use of sulphur and copper as fungicides is limited. Use of sulphur dioxide (to stop wine turning to vinegar) is also limited under organic rules. On average, organic producers use one quarter of the legal maximum, which is good news because this additive is linked to hangovers and has also been found to exacerbate allergies and asthma.

AGAINST: MANY wine experts say organic wines do not taste as nice, and that the producers of good nonorganic wines use the minimum amount of additives anyway.

VERDICT: DON'T limit yourself to organic - unless you are asthmatic.

Root vegetables

Organic potatoes, Pounds 1.98 for 2.5kg

White potatoes, 74p for 2.5kg

FOR ORGANIC: NON-ORGANIC varieties are sprayed with chemicals that go right down to the root of the plant and linger there.

A new Danish study found rats fed a diet of organic potatoes, carrots, peas and apples were healthier than those on a conventional fertilised diet.

Furthermore, organically-fed rats slept better, had stronger immune systems and were slimmer.

AGAINST: ORGANIC potatoes and carrots are twice the price of non- organic.

VERDICT: BUY organic. This research has only been done on rats, but the evidence that they were healthier on an organic diet is compelling.

Apples

Organic apples, Pounds 1.99 each

Class 1 Braeburns, Pounds 1.28 each

FOR ORGANIC: A REPORT from the Pesticide Usage Survey found that apples, pears, oranges and melons absorb more pesticides than other fruit. Peeling doesn't help because pesticides work their way into the flesh.

Some apples are sprayed up to 16 times, using 36 different chemicals.

While rules about pesticides are strict in Britain, in Spain and France apples are much more heavily sprayed and some of the nastier pesticides - such as methyl-bromide are more widely used.This chemical has been found to add to the depletion of the ozone layer.

AGAINST: ORGANIC apples can be up to double the price of non- organic.

VERDICT: BUY organic if you can.

Peas and other Vegetables

Organic garden peas, Pounds 1.39 for 907g

Garden peas, 85p for 907g

FOR ORGANIC: THE Soil Association recently compared the vitamin and mineral content of organic and conventionally grown food, and found organic vegetables to have higher levels of Vitamin C and essential minerals magnesium, iron and chromium.

Many people believe organic vegetables also taste better. This, according to Peter Melchett, director of the Soil Association, is because nitrogen fertilisers used in conventional farming force water into them to make them grow more quickly. This gives you more water and less vegetable, which in turn gives you less taste and fibre and fewer vitamins.

AGAINST: NON-ORGANIC peas, cabbages and cauliflowers have all been found to have lower levels of pesticides than other vegetables.

VERDICT: BUY organic, if possible, for the higher nutrient content.

Tomato ketchup

Heinz organic tomato ketchup, Pounds 1.42 per 460g bottle Heinz ketchup, Pounds 1.38 per 570g bottle

FOR ORGANIC: A RECENT study in New Scientist magazine showed that organic tomato sauce contained three-times more lycopene than non- organic. This chemical is a powerful antioxidant which is found in tomatoes, has been shown to protect against breast, pancreatic and bowel cancer, and may also offer protection against heart attacks.

AGAINST: ORGANIC ketchup still contains sugar and salt.

VERDICT: Do buy organic ketchup.

Wholemeal Bread

Organic thick sliced wholemeal loaf, 53p

Premium wholemeal thick sliced loaf, 52p

FOR ORGANIC: ORGANIC bread is made from grain grown without pesticides such as organophosphates (a relative of nerve gas).These chemicals have been linked to conditions such as cancer, decreasing male fertility and Parkinson's disease. The U.S. government ranks pesticide residues among the top three environmental cancer risks.

There is also very little price difference.

AGAINST: SOME organic breads have higher fat content than other non-organic varieties.

VERDICT: BUY organic.

Strawberries

Organic strawberries, Pounds 4.23 per kilo

Class 1 strawberries, Pounds 3.29 per kilo

FOR ORGANIC: STRAWBERRIES are one of the most sprayed fruits, says the Soil Association.

Before they are planted, the soil is often fumigated with chemicals which are poisonous to humans and will kill all life from microorganisms to bugs that come into contact with the soil. The fruit may then be sprayed up to ten more times during production.

AGAINST: THERE are few British organic strawberry growers, so organic strawberries may have been flown thousands of miles and will have been artificially-ripened.

British strawberries are also subject to fewer pesticides than on the Continent.

VERDICT: DON'T bother with organic.

Buy British for flavour and fewer pesticides.

Eggs

Organic medium eggs (six), Pounds 1.14

Free range medium eggs (six), 84p

FOR ORGANIC: ORGANIC eggs have been found to be higher in essential fatty acids, and have no antibiotic residues.

AGAINST: FEW of the 30 million organic eggs sold in the UK are purely organic. A chick reared to lay organic eggs can spend the first 18 weeks of its life in a shed on a non-organic diet. Its eggs are classified organic if it lives on an organic laying-farm for six weeks.

From January, chicks will have to be fed organically from birth and follow organic rules banning antibiotic growth promoters.

VERDICT: BUY organic if you can, especially after next year's rule change.

Source: Daily Mail; London (UK)

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