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

Abstract

This review summarises existing evidence on the impact of organic food on human health. It compares organic vs. conventional food production with respect to parameters important to human health and discusses the potential impact of organic management practices with an emphasis on EU conditions. Organic food consumption may reduce the risk of allergic disease and of overweight and obesity, but the evidence is not conclusive due to likely residual confounding, as consumers of organic food tend to have healthier lifestyles overall. However, animal experiments suggest that identically composed feed from organic or conventional production impacts in different ways on growth and development. In organic agriculture, the use of pesticides is restricted, while residues in conventional fruits and vegetables constitute the main source of human pesticide exposures. Epidemiological studies have reported adverse effects of certain pesticides on children’s cognitive development at current levels of exposure, but these data have so far not been applied in formal risk assessments of individual pesticides. Differences in the composition between organic and conventional crops are limited, such as a modestly higher content of phenolic compounds in organic fruit and vegetables, and likely also a lower content of cadmium in organic cereal crops. Organic dairy products, and perhaps also meats, have a higher content of omega-3 fatty acids compared to conventional products. However, these differences are likely of marginal nutritional significance. Of greater concern is the prevalent use of antibiotics in conventional animal production as a key driver of antibiotic resistance in society; antibiotic use is less intensive in organic production. Overall, this review emphasises several documented and likely human health benefits associated with organic food production, and application of such production methods is likely to be beneficial within conventional agriculture, e.g., in integrated pest management.

Nutritional ecology: understanding the intersection of climate/environmental change, food systems and health.

“…Shifts in the gut microbiome may be associated with shifting dietary patterns due to changes in dietary quality or nutrition transitions from traditional dietary patterns (Popkin and Gordon-Larsen, 2004;Crittenden and Schnorr, 2017). Additional implications of the intersection of CEC, the gut microbiome and health include increased exposure to antibiotics either directly via medical treatment or indirectly via use in animal production practices (Mie et al, 2017), reduced food and water safety resulting in increased risk of diarrheal disease (Levy et al, 2016), and interactions between microbial diversity, health and nutritional status (Duffy et al, 2015;Shibata et al, 2017).…”

Analyzing the impact of organic certification on product and sustainable attributes on the importance of organic food certification in Thailand: Mediating role of perceived benefits of organic food

“…The more people follow the organic food certification, the more healthy products are produced and consumed. The certification process helps to produce healthy and organic food that people can consume and attain healthy end results (Mie et al, ). So, this study has constructed the following hypotheses.…”

Effect of Dipping and Vacuum Impregnation Pretreatments on the Quality of Frozen Apples: A Comparative Study on Organic and Conventional Fruits

“…Vegetable products obtained by organic farming practices compared to those cultivated by integrated or conventional methods are recognized as healthier (Mie et al., ) and safer due to the absence and/or low presence of chemical residues and synthetic phytochemicals and environmental contaminants. Such consumers appear to be willing to pay the premium price that organic products command (Winter & Davis, ).…”