Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture: a comprehensive review

Axel Mie, researcher at Karolinska Institutet and on part-time linked to EPOK, published this week a review article compiling published research on health effects of organic food and organic production in a European perspective.

Behind the article are also co-authors from several European universities. The article was published in the journal "Environmental Health" and is an updated version of a report for a EU-parliamentary committee that was published in the beginning of 2017.

Epidemiological long-term studies and organophosphates
In several epidemiological long-term studies have documented a relationship between higher levels of organophosphate in the urine during pregnancy and poorer development of various brain functions among the children.

When the toxicity of pesticides is evaluated and determined in the approval process, these epidemiological studies are not taken into account. It is therefore a benefit that consumption of organic food causes a significantly lower exposure to chemical pesticides compared with consumption of conventional foods.

Less antibiotics
The review article also points out another advantage of organic food production from a health perspective. In European conventional animal farming, considerably higher amounts of antibiotics are used than in organic farming. Generous use of antibiotics increases the risk of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains being developed. This may endanger our possibilities of treating bacterial infectious diseases.

Nutritional content less important
The article has also summarized research studies on nutritional content in the food, but does not attach much weight to the minor differences found between food from organic and conventional production.