Globalisation:European Food Information Council: Organically Produced Food

EUFIC claims clearly on their website that there is no evidence that organically produced food is any safer, or more nutritious than its conventionally produced counterpart. This advice goes hand in hand with the official advice given by the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom. However, this advice again produces a confusing dilemma for the consumer, as there are numerous conflicting opinions on the matter, most recently a study conducted by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA). The Independent on Sunday reported that the study had found that organic plant products contain more dry matter, and so are more nutrient-dense and contain more minerals such as iron and magnesium than conventional foods. The study also suggested that organic produce contains more polyphenols than its non-organic counterpart. There are questions however, over whether or not the debate is not as concerned with health benefits, as it is about corporate interests. In an article titled 'Organicised Crime' in The Ecologist, journalist Andy Rowell suggested that the backlash against organic food had begun and he suggested that there was a deliberate push by the Agribusiness sector to undermine organic produce. No longer a niche market, but the fastest growing food segment in the market, it is in the interests of big transnational producers of food to stop the public moving from non organic to organic. In the article Rowell suggests -'In these efforts (to undermine the organic food industry), the agribusiness and biotech corporations are supported by a loose network of think-tanks, both in the US and in the UK. To an unsuspecting eye, these think-tanks appear to offer a veneer of independence from the big businesses which plough billions of dollars into their bank accounts to push forward a deregulatory, pro-high-tech, corporate agenda.'