Is Organic Food Healthier?

A new meta-analysis of the benefits of organic food was released July 11, 2014 open source by the authors and will be published in the British Journal of Nutrition on Tuesday. The study from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom team included one American, Charles M. Benbrook an agricultural economist from Washington State University. The study looked at 343 peer-reviewed publications comparing the nutritional quality and safety of organic and conventional plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables and grains. The study team applied the most current meta-analysis techniques to quantify differences between organic and non-organic foods.

According to Dr. Benbrook the researchers found that (1) organic crops have, on average, higher levels of antioxidant than conventional crops (on average 17% higher), (2) organic crops have lower cadmium levels than conventional crops, and (3) pesticide residues are present much more frequently in conventional crops than organic ones. Whether these findings would translate into better health outcomes from the long term consumption of organic food is not known. There have never been long-term dietary intervention studies on organic food; the duration of the studies involving human subjects ranged from two days to two years.

While there have been studies that have found an association between some antioxidants and decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and certain cancers, there is no evidence of a causal link. According to Dr. Benbrook antioxidants protect our cells against the effects of oxidation. While oxidation is a normal chemical process that takes place in the body, it can be accelerated by many factors, such as exposure to UV light, exposure to pollution, stress, processed food, and smoking. The oxidation process can trigger the formation of free radicals, which can damage cells in the body and trigger diseases.

A Stanford University meta-analysis study published in 2012 found little significant difference in health benefits between organic and conventional foods. No consistent differences were seen in the vitamin content of organic products, and only one nutrient — phosphorus — was significantly higher in organic versus conventionally grown produce (and the researchers note that because few people have phosphorous deficiency, this has little clinical significance). There was also no difference in protein or fat content between organic and conventional milk, though evidence from a limited number of studies suggested that organic milk may contain significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

There are health and environmental risks associated with pesticide exposure. Even at low doses, pesticides can act as an endocrine disruptor and can pose development risks to infants and children. Developmental and other health risks are higher for infants and growing children, because children eat more relative to their body weight than adults, and a child’s organs are less efficient in detoxifying pesticides than adults. Exposure to pesticides for women and men of reproductive age can undermine reproductive health and may increase the risk of spontaneous abortions, certain birth defects, and undermine long-term neurological health of the child. In addition, pesticides can impact the environment and other animals.

Organic food sales in the United States have grown to more than $28 billion in 2012. Traditionally, before the government stepped in to regulate the market, organic foods were grown under “natural conditions” (without the use of inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides; and either not processed, or processed without the use of additives) there is now an industrial organic food complex. You may think that you intuitively know what organic means; however, under standards adopted by the U.S. Agriculture Dept. (USDA) in 2000 there is a legal definition. Organic food is food grown, raised and processed without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and antibiotics may not be used in raising organic foods. In addition, the use of irradiation, biotechnology, and sewer-sludge fertilizer is also banned. Food whose ingredients are at least 95% organic by weight may carry the "USDA ORGANIC" label; products containing only organic ingredients are labeled 100% organic. So now you have certified organic processed junk food.

However, organically produced food is not entirely free of pesticide residues. A large, high-quality U.S. Department of Agriculture database reports pesticide residues in several dozen organic and conventionally grown foods on an annual basis. A study was performed to evaluate the presence of synthetic pesticides in Organic food and found while organic food significantly reduces pesticide exposure, organic farming does not eliminate pesticide risk. Risk levels arising from pesticide residues in organic food differ by over 1,000-fold, with most posing very modest risks and a limited number associated with possibly worrisome exposure levels.

Most pesticides in organic food tested by the USDA were detected at very low levels and were assumed to be incidental and inadvertent from pesticide drift, pesticide carry over in soil, contaminated compost or organic soil amendments, and contamination of irrigation water. Drift is a widely recognized environmental problem. Aerial application, air blast sprayers, and micro-droplets are application technologies that increase the risk of drift from conventional crops. Legacy contaminants in soil were another cause of pesticides, and without testing the soil it is not possible to predict what levels of contaminants will occur in crops. Not much can be done in the immediate future about legacy contaminants, although organic farmers can avoid problems by planting crops not prone to the uptake of legacy chemicals bound to the soil. More than a third of the pesticide contamination was found to be caused by post-harvest pesticides picked up when the food was processed, packaged etc. Most pesticides in organic food tested by the USDA program were detected at very low levels.

Organic food offers consumers fruits, vegetables and grains that dramatically reduces dietary exposure to pesticide residue compared to industrial farming. There are low use pesticide farming practices that also reduce pesticide exposure. In addition, total antioxidant levels were a 17% higher in organic versus the conventional crops. The levels for much greater — 69% higher levels of flavanones, 28% higher levels of stilbenes, 50% higher levels of flavonols, and 51% higher levels of anthocyanins. Whether this will have any impact on long term health is not known. Also, organic foods were found to have higher levels of phosphorus, but similar levels of vitamins to conventional food. Cadmium exposure is reduced in organic food.

Putting the information together from all these studies I still believe that organic practices are good for the planet, but so are modern conservation farming practices. I am sticking with my mix of organic and conservation farming produced food from my neighbors whose farming practices I know. I avoid distribution networks and food processing exposures to pesticides and everything is fresh.

Contaminated Air, Water and Soil Contaminate Food Grown in China threatens US Consumers

As reported in the Wall Street Journal over 40% of rice tested in local markets in Guangzhou, China earlier this year contained levels of cadmium exceeding local regulations. Guangzhou is southern China's largest city. The Wall Street Journal reported that the contaminated rice samples were found to have 0.21 milligram to 0.4 milligram of cadmium in each kilogram of rice. The Chinese government allows a maximum 0.2 mg of cadmium in each kilogram of rice. Cadmium appears in small quantities in air, water, and soil. Burning of household waste, industrial waste, coal or oil can release cadmium into the air. Cadmium also can be released from car exhaust, industrial activities like metal processing, battery and paint manufacturing, and waste disposal. Once cadmium is in the air, it spreads with the wind and settles onto the ground or surface water as dust. Since cadmium is a metal, it does not break down and can accumulate over time.

Breathing low levels of cadmium over many years can result in a buildup of cadmium in the kidneys and may cause kidney damage and fragile bones. If you eat food or drink water that contains large amounts of cadmium, stomach irritation, vomiting, and diarrhea may result, but damage from low levels of cadmium exposure may build unnoticed. Cadmium is a carcinogen and heavy metal element. Cadmium is commonly present in industrial waste, but is also a contaminant in fertilizer manufactured from phosphorus sources high in cadmium and then over applied contaminating the soil. The quantity of cadmium contained in a phosphate fertilizer depends on the source of the rock from which it was made. This content varies from almost zero to over 300 mg of Cadmium per kilogram of fertilizer.

High cadmium levels have been found in soil in many different Chinese regions. China's soils are reported to be contaminated not only with cadmium, but also high levels of lead and arsenic. Cadmium is frequently found in leafy vegetables such as spinach and other leafy vegetables grown in polluted conditions. For cadmium to be found in rice grains, the soil in which it was grown must have been especially highly polluted, according to scientists. This sort of contamination is more likely to occur from irrigation with contaminated waste water and/or over application of severely contaminated fertilizer.

China barely grows enough rice to feed their own nation, so it is unlikely that anyone outside of their nation will be exposed to cadmium contaminated rice, but there are many other foods that China does export to us. Last year the United States imported 4.1 billion pound of food from China. From the Testimony by Patty Lovera, the assistant director of Food and Water Watch, before the House Committee hearing on “The Threat of China’s Unsafe Consumables” we see how widely food from China permeates our own food supply and is impacted by the growing food safety problem in China that includes economically motivated adulteration using hazardous chemicals and fraudulent representations of products being organic.

In 2011: The United States imported 382.2 million pounds of tilapia from China representing over 80% of U.S. consumption. In addition, the United States imported 367 million gallons of apple juice from China, almost half the apple juice consumed that year in the United States. The 70.7 million pounds of cod imported from China were just over half of U.S. consumption. The 217.5 million pounds of imported garlic was 31 % of U.S. consumption. The 39.3 million pounds of frozen spinach represented 11 % of U.S. consumption.

Chinese exports include processed foods and food ingredients, products which most consumers purchase without considering where they came from and after melamine in animal feed and milk tainted milk products sickened and killed pets and children we should think carefully about the ingredients in processed food. China is a leading supplier to the United States of ingredients like xylitol, used as a sweetener in candy, and sorbic acid which is used as a preservative. China supplies around 85 % of U.S imports of artificial vanilla, as well as many vitamins that are frequently added to food products, like folic acid and thiamine.

This is an opportunity to rethink your food philosophy and rethink organic to increase your food safety. The USDA organic label means that the food was produced using organic methods sanctioned by the USDA. Verification of imported food is not performed by the USDA. Under the standards organic food is food grown, raised and processed without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and antibiotics may not be used in raising organic foods, in addition, the use of irradiation, biotechnology, and sewer-sludge fertilizer is also banned. However, during a spot test (not all food is tested) organic produce imported from China has been found to be high in synthetic pesticide residue.

To eat safely avoid as much as possible processed food. The origin of ingredients in processed food does not have to be listed on the label this is true for organic processed food. So try to buy on whole foods. In the past I have bought organic where I thought it mattered to protecting my family from exposure to chemicals. Like strawberries, lettuce, apples, vegetables especially root vegetables where the outside of the fruit and vegetable is eaten, but it is very important that the food is grown in uncontaminated soil and that the Organic certification can be trusted. I trust the United States certification and a few others and have expanded my buying to local conservation farmers that use pesticides in limited quantities. Food is not just about organic, conventional, price or marketing. You need to know the sources of your food and ingredients. Through my volunteer work I have gotten to know several local farmers and I trust them.

For the safest and healthiest diet I try to buy only American grown produce, vegetables, herbs, beans and grains (though occasionally I do buy a couple of bananas and pineapples). In terms of meat, I purchase organic, grass fed and pastured beef, pork, lamb and free range chicken from only U.S. sources and preferably at a farm with a buying club and local drop off point. We only eat wild caught fish and the list of types and sources is growing shorter. I started buying grass fed beef back in the day when I was doing environmental evaluations of farms, dairies and concentrated animal feed operations (CAFOs). I will not go into the highly gross details of that work; however, my concerns for the animal welfare, mad cow disease, and environmental impact of CAFOs pushed me to buy my meat from sustainable farms that pasture raise their meat. In addition grass fed beef (and other animals) is lower in saturated fat and better for you. This was confirmed by Marion Nestle, author of “What to Eat” and Professor of nutrition at NYU School of Public Health. I asked her at a lecture I attended and she said that grass fed beef was as low in saturated fat as chicken.

Cancer and Organic Food

In an op-ed piece called New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer, Nicholas D. Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times discusses the report released on Thursday by The President’s Cancer Panel. (Full text of The President’s Cancer Panel 2008-29009 report can be found here http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp08-09rpt/PCP_Report_08-09_508.pdf). The report is based on research from 25 experts, and calls for increased regulation of chemicals and more action by individuals to cut the risk of cancer posed by environmental factors.

After the poorly argued debate held at Skirball Center of NYU between agricultural analyst Dennis Avery; farmer and freelance writer Blake Hurst,; former Food Standards Agency chairman John Krebs; Vogue food critic Jeffrey Steingarten; Consumer Unions director Urvashi Rangan; and former executive director of the board on agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences Charles Benbrook "Organic Food is Marketing Hype," I was very interested in reading a scientific support for organic food. I had assumed the President’s Cancer Panel would present the scientific evidence since one of the primary recommendations for individuals is to reduce their exposure to pesticides by choosing whenever possible food grown and raised without chemicals and washing conventionally grown products. So I downloaded the report.

Unfortunately, I was to be disappointed. The report states that efforts to identify, and quantify environmental exposures that raise cancer risk, including both single agents and combinations of exposures, have been compromised by a lack of effective measurement methods; inadequate computational models; and weak, flawed, or uncorroborated studies. Only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals in use in the United States have been fully tested for safety, but many of these chemicals have found their way into soil, air, water and many consumer products. Many believe there is cause for concern, but there is no easy way to test and determine. There is no proof in the report and it recommendations run counter to the principals of toxicology.

The science of toxicology is based on the principle that there is a relationship between a toxic reaction (the response) and the amount of poison received (the dose). An important assumption in this relationship is that there is almost always a dose below which no response occurs or can be measured. This assumption combined with the detection limits of the analytical work has hindered the serious investigation of low level environmental exposures. The President’s Cancer Panel states that response may be impacted by when the dose occurs, for example in utero or during childhood and there may be a cumulative impact. This is only supported by common sense, not scientific studies. The 2008-2009 report does a good job of identifying the paths of exposure for thousands of chemicals, and states: “At this time, we do not know how much environmental exposures influence cancer risk and related immune and endocrine dysfunction. Environmental contamination varies greatly by type and magnitude across the nation, and the lifetime effects of exposure to combinations of chemicals and other agents are largely unstudied. Similarly, the cancer impact of exposures during key “windows of vulnerability” such as the prenatal period, early life, and puberty are not well understood. …Environmental health, including cancer risk, has been largely excluded from overall national policy on protecting and improving the health of Americans.” I am left to make my purchasing and lifestyle decisions based on common sense, experience as an environmental engineer and beliefs, not on scientific evidence.

What is Organic Food?

Until recently, organic and natural were just claims growing out of a desire to balance human, animal and environmental health based on the principals of Sir Albert Howard, a British botanist. Organic and natural farming has been practiced in the United States since the late 1940s after the rise of the new generation of pesticides. Organic farming has grown from experimental garden plots to the emergence of the “organic industrial complex” selling its products under a special organic label. It was the government intervention and regulation of the organic food market that has given rise to the organic industrial complex.

In the 1990, after an attempt to develop a consensus of production and certification standards during the late 1980’s, Congress drafted the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990, adopted as part of the 1990 Farm Bill, which required the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop national standards for organically produced agricultural products to assure consumers that agricultural products marketed as organic meet consistent, uniform standards. This process took twelve years. This resulted in the labeling you have seen on fruit and vegetables in the form of those little stickers on your fruit and vegetables. Any number beginning with a 9 is organic. The Act also requires USDA to establish an organic certification program. These standards were loose enough to allow for the manufacture of organic junk food

To be certified organic food must be grown without the use of conventional non-organic pesticides, insecticides and herbicides (there is some allowance to use controlled amounts of pesticides as a last resort). Fruits, legumes, vegetables, herbs and grains are produced and handled without the use of synthetic chemicals, except nitrogen, lime and potash from approved sources. The food is produced on land that has not had synthetic chemicals applied in the past three years. There are reportedly more than 400 chemical pesticides routinely used in conventional farming and residues remain on non-organic food even after washing. One class of pesticides, endocrine disruptors have recently become and area of investigation for the EPA. Organic food is grown without synthetic pesticides and in compliance with an approved organic plan that specifies amongst other things treatment of compost and biological waste.

For livestock and dairy, Organic animals aren't given drugs. Organic farming standards prohibit the use of antibiotics, growth hormones and genetically modified vaccines in farm animals Organic animals aren't fed slaughterhouse waste, blood, or manure. Organic animals are either pastured in organic pastures or gain feed organic feed. Organic crops and feed are supposed to be free of genetically modified species. Recent questions have arisen regarding the cross pollination of genetically modified perennial crops such as alfalfa contaminating organic pastures. Note that there is no US standard for organic fish. Any fish labeled as organic is a farm raised fish feed an organic diet (probably grain) and certified by another entity. I prefer wild fish.

The organic label is now conferred on processed foods. The creation of this “value added” category has encouraged the entry into the organic category of large food manufacturing companies. The organic standards differentiate between single ingredient foods discussed above like produce, milk and multi-ingredient foods like cookies and yogurt. Under the government regulations processed food can now be certified as organic. Foods such as beverages, snacks, and other processed foods are classified in different ways to indicate how much of their ingredients are organic. Processed foods are labeled; 100% Organic, Organic, Made with Organic Ingredients. Only food with at least 95% organic ingredients by weight may display the USDA Organic seal.

100% Organic—Foods bearing this label are made with 100% organic ingredients* and may display the USDA Organic seal.

Organic—These products contain at least 95–99% organic ingredients (by weight). The remaining ingredients are not available organically but have been approved by the NOP. These products may display the USDA Organic seal. These are typically foods that require baking soda, ascorbic acid to retain their color when packaged and other processing ingredients, food additives and flavor.

Made With Organic Ingredients—Food packaging that reads “Made With Organic Ingredients” must contain 70–94% organic ingredients. These products will not bear the USDA Organic seal; instead, they may list up to three ingredients on the front of the packaging.