Organic food is better for you......or is it?

To the casual reader last week the headlines were clear - an EU funded study had concluded that orgainic food is healthier because it contains more nutrients. But read behind the headlines and the picture is less definite.

The claimed improvements were limited to a small number of vegetables - antioxidants in tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce, and minerals in cabbage and spinach. Milk showed higher antioxidant levels, but more in summer when the cows are eating fresh grass than in winter.

The Times and BBC among others were careful to point out that the results showed significant variations, and the leader of the study, organic enthusiast Prof Carlo Leifert, was forced to admit that some conventionally grown crops have larger quantities of vitamins than organic.

Findings were released to the press, but the detail has not been published, nor have findings been peer reviewed by independent scientists. This will not happen for another 12 months.

Fortunately consumers should get a more balanced picture of organic nutrition levels when the FSA, who have undertaken to review data, publish their findings.

So what are consumers likely to take from last week's publicity? Those already into organic food will be pleased. The well informed will have read the detail and are likely to await further findings. And the headlines may have improved some people's feelings about organic, although whether it tempts them to purchase is another matter, given the cost of organic food versus conventionally produced.