This review is concerned with the summary and evaluation of the results from more than 150 investigations comparing the quality of conventionally and organically produced food or of foods produced with the aid of di †erent fertilisation systems. Cereals, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, wine, beer, bread, cakes and pastries, milk, meat, eggs and honey, as well as products made from them, have been included in the review. Most of the studies evaluated are physicochemical investigations of concentrations of desirable and undesirable ingredients, pesticide residues, contaminants, sensory analyses and feed experiments with animals. Nutritional studies in humans and experiments which used holistic methods of analysis are also included. Since di †erent methods of sampling were used in the investigations, a summary evaluation of individual results is extremely difficult. Even when the sampling methods are of the same type, a great many factors have to be taken into consideration which are not directly related to the production system but which do inÑuence food quality to a large degree. Despite the heterogeneity of the sample material, some di †erences in quality between products from conventional and organic farming or foods produced with the aid of di †erent fertilisation systems have been identiÐed.

37 different grape juices and 21 red wines were analyzed for their contents of ochratoxin A at the State's Veterinary and Food Research Institute of Saxony-Anhalt in Halle in 1999 and the 1(st) quarter of 2000. Ochratoxin A was found in 78 % of the grape juices and 100 % of the wines. 27 % or 33 % respectively exceeded the EC Commission's lately intended proposal for an ochratoxin A maximum permissible level which is 0.5 ppb. A higher contamination rate for wines originating from southern growing regions of the EC was noticeable.

A Fusarium and Fusarium toxin monitoring programme has been established within the food and feed control authorities of Saxony-Anhalt for the 2001-2003 period. The first results of the deoxynivalenol analyses of cereals and cereal products with assured origin in this federal state, showed a contamination rate of 42% for wheat and wheat products. The contamination incidence reached only 14% in rye and rye products. Zearalenone couldn't be detected at all in the analyzed samples.

A 3 yearFusarium andFusarium toxin monitoring programme was established within the food and feed control authorities of Saxony-Anhalt in 2001. The first year's results of the analysis of deoxynivalenol in cereals and cereal products with assured origin in this federal state, showed a contamination rate of 24% for wheat and wheat products. The contamination incidence reached only 8% in rye and rye products, whereas it was 17% for barley and its products including beer. Zearalenone could be detected only in 2 of 162 analysed samples.