It May Taste Good But Is Organic Food Better For You?

05/11/2010 19:48 | Updated 22 May 2015

To eat organic or not to eat organic? It's hardly a new dilemma, but a report from Denmark suggests whether or not you splash out on organic fruit and veg or save your pennies buying non-organic produce largely depends on why you're making the decision in the first place.

Organic vegetablesOrganic vegetables: are they worth the extra cost? Photo: MorgueFile, ladyheart

Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the researchers suggest that if you eat organic fruit and veg because you believe they contain more health-giving antioxidants, you're wasting your cash.

Having tested fruit and veg for levels of polyphenols - antioxidant compounds thought to protect against age-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease - the researchers claim there's no difference between organic and non-organic.

But if you eat organic produce because you think it tastes better and because you don't like the idea of all that pesticide residue on non-organic fruit and veg ending up in your system, both are perfectly valid reasons to pay the extra premium, the experts say.

It's not the first time the merits of organic fruit and veg have been questioned (and it probably won't be the last either). In 2009 a UK study found there was no nutritional benefit in eating organic food. But later that year French experts suggested organic food does contain more nutrients such as iron and magnesium than food grown by non-organic methods.

Do you think buying organic food is a waste of money? Or is it worth every penny just for the better taste?



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