“Organic” has become a byword for “healthy” in today’s food industry, but is there actually any evidence of nutritional benefits from eating it? According to a systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, the answer is no.

Consumers all over the world pay higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, yet according to a study of available scientific literature by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, only a small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, and these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance.

The global organic food market (currently worth over $59 billion, and estimated to reach over $88 billion by 2015), is built upon the assumption that healthier farming methods produce healthier foods, and though this may hold true on the case of people with certain food intolerances or specific conditions, according to Alan Dangour, one of the study’s authors, ”our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority”.

Source : Sydney Morning Herald