Effects of organic food consumption on human health; the jury is still out!

Abstract

The most recent systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses have indicated significant and nutritionally-relevant composition differences between organic and conventional foods. This included higher antioxidant, but lower cadmium and pesticide levels in organic crops, and higher omega-3 fatty acids concentrations in organic meat and dairy products. Also, results from a small number of human cohort studies indicate that there are positive associations between organic food consumption and reduced risk/incidence of certain acute diseases (e.g. pre-eclampsia, hypospadias) and obesity. Concerns about potential negative health impacts of organic food consumption (e.g. risks linked to lower iodine levels in organic milk) have also been raised, but are not currently supported by evidence from human cohort studies. However, there is virtually no published data from (1) long-term cohort studies focusing on chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative conditions) and (2) controlled human dietary intervention studies comparing effects of organic and conventional diets. It is therefore currently not possible to quantify to what extent organic food consumption may affect human health.

A Systematic Review of Organic Versus Conventional Food Consumption: Is There a Measurable Benefit on Human Health?

“…These include higher antioxidant concentrations (particularly polyphenols) in organic crops [10]; increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids in organic dairy products [11][12][13]; and improved fatty acid profiles in organic meat products [14,15]. These compositional differences are comprehensively discussed in several recent reviews [16][17][18][19]. There is preliminary evidence to suggest that these compositional differences may have an effect on plasma levels of certain nutrients including magnesium, fat-soluble micronutrients (α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin), and fatty acids (linoleic, palmitoleic, γ-linolenic, and docosapentaenoic acids) [20].…”

“…The last systematic review into the effect of organic food consumption on health was conducted by Dangour et al in 2010 [35], which was limited to strict inclusion criteria of organic interventions, and Smith-Spangler et al in 2012 [19], which contained only minimal focus on the human health effects of organic food, and a broader focus on nutritional content of organically and conventionally grown food and food safety. Although there have been other more recent reviews on the effects of organic diet on broader aspects of health [16][17][18]21], none have been systematic. The literature has expanded since these earlier systematic reviews, with many cohort and cross-sectional studies being published which compare organic versus conventional dietary intake on a range of health outcomes.…”

Organic vs. Conventional Milk: Some Considerations on Fat-Soluble Vitamins and Iodine Content

“…However, it is not simple to conduct epidemiological or intervention studies, because individuals that consume organic foods and dairy products usually have different lifestyles that should be taken into consideration in the definition of these kinds of researches. As recently reported by some authors [48], there are no long-term cohort studies or controlled dietary intervention studies comparing the effects of diets based on organic or conventional food. In this context, the higher cost of organic milk can be justified only by the high cost of the management of these farms.…”

Behavior-Based Pricing of Organic and Conventional Agricultural Products Based on Green Subsidies

“…Recent studies have shown that the quality of organic agricultural products is not different from that of conventional agricultural products and will not have different effects on human health [4,5]. Therefore, some consumers have no preference difference between organic agricultural products and conventional products.…”