A study which will appear t in the September edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition may start the WW III of Food Wars.

The independent review of 50 years of research shows that there is about the same nutritive value in standard versus organically-grown or produced foods.

The Oregon-based Organic Center does not agree.

That conclusion about nutritional content does not address questions about growing and processing methods, which may involve pesticides or additives.

The world of food is so complex it is difficult to compare growing methods 1:1. (You thought we would say to get apples-to-apples comparisons, didn’t you? Well, that’s hard, too, apple-growing.)

Whatever your views about food, its origins and the risks of choices, it is hard to imagine that there will not be a lot of  clinical nutritional fire power used up once this study is out.

That’s before Moms are heard from. Before cancer survivors who only eat organic are heard from. Organic foods have grown as a share of total consumption because of anxieties about traditional methods. Those concerns will not dissolve based on this study.

It is, however, a good starting point for discussion about foods and their origins.

Health Day News

…” Food that beckons from the organic aisles of grocery stores may not be any better for you than what lines the rest of supermarket shelves.

“According to a British review of studies done over the past 50 years, organic and conventionally produced foods have about the same nutrient content, suggesting that neither is better in terms of health benefits. (Emphasis added)

“We did not find any important differences in nutrient content between organically and conventionally produced foods,” said study author Alan Dangour, a registered public health nutritionist with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

“Nonetheless, the researchers noted, organic foods continue to grow in popularity. In the United Kingdom, the market share for organic foods increased 22 percent from 2005 to 2007, they said.

“Likewise, the market for organic foods in the United States has grown at about a 20 percent rate each year since 1990, reaching $13.8 billion in consumer sales in 2005, according to the Organic Trade Association. That represents 2.5 percent of total food sales in the country, the trade group noted.

“As a registered dietitian, it is good to see that a systematic review of the literature supports what has long been believed — that the nutritional content of traditionally grown foods and organic foods are comparable,” said Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis and past president of the American Dietetic Association. “This report provides confirmation for consumers that if they choose conventionally grown foods or organic foods they will be meeting their nutritional needs.”

Source: Health Day News, July 29, 2009