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Organic food and impact on human health: Assessing the status quo and
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 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G Model
NJAS-75; No. of Pages 7

NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/njas

Review

Organic food and impact on human health: Assessing the status quo and
prospects of research
M. Huber a,∗ , E. Rembiałkowska b , D. Średnicka b , S. Bügel c , L.P.L. van de Vijver a
a
Louis Bolk Institute, Driebergen, The Netherlands
b
Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Human Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, Department of Functional Food and Commodities, Warsaw, Poland
c
University of Copenhagen, Department of Human Nutrition, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The paper gives an overview of recent studies investigating the health value of organic foods and presents
Received 28 November 2009 a framework for estimating the scientific impact of these studies. Furthermore, the problems connected
Accepted 19 January 2011 with the different research approaches are being discussed. A number of comparative studies showed
Available online xxx
lower nitrate contents and less pesticide residues, but usually higher levels of vitamin C and phenolic
compounds in organic plant products, as well as higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated
Keywords:
linoleic acid in milk from organically raised animals. However, the variation in outcomes of compara-
Review
tive studies is very high, depending on plant fertilization, ripening stage and plant age at harvest, and
Organic food
Health
weather conditions. Moreover, there appeared no simple relationship between nutritional value and
Humans health effects. It is difficult therefore to draw conclusions from analytical data about the health effects
Intervention of organic foods. Some in vitro studies comparing health-related properties of organic vs conventional
Observational foods showed higher antioxidative and antimutagenic activity as well as better inhibition of cancer cell
In vitro studies proliferation of organically produced food. If ‘health effects’ are defined as effects on defined diseases in
humans, evidence for such effects is presently lacking. Animal studies carried out so far have demon-
strated positive effects of an organic diet on weight, growth, fertility indices and immune system. Recent
human epidemiological studies associated consumption of organic foods with lower risks of allergies,
whereas findings of human intervention studies were still ambiguous. The hypothesis might be that
organic food increases the capacity of living organisms towards resilience. To confirm this, effect studies
on specific markers for health are necessary.
© 2011 Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.
All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
2. Comparative studies on nutritional value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
2.1. Plant products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
2.2. Animal products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3. Translation of compositional information to impact on human health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4. Types of studies analysing the effects of organic products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.1. Intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.2. Observational studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.3. Intervention studies in animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.4. In vitro studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
5. Recent in vitro studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
6. Recent animal studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00

∗ Corresponding author at: Louis Bolk Institute, Dept. of Healthcare & Nutrition, Hoofdstraat 24, NL-3972 LA Driebergen, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 0 343 523 860;
fax: +31 0 343 515 611.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Huber).

1573-5214/$ – see front matter © 2011 Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.njas.2011.01.004

Please cite this article in press as: M. Huber, et al., Organic food and impact on human health: Assessing the status quo and prospects of research,
NJAS - Wageningen J. Life Sci. (2011), doi:10.1016/j.njas.2011.01.004
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2 M. Huber et al. / NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

7. Recent studies in humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00

7.1. Observational studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
7.2. Intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
8. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
9. Towards the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
9.1. Comparative studies on nutritional value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
9.2. Intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
9.3. Observational studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
9.4. In vitro models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00

1. Introduction [9], pears and peaches [7]. A higher carotenoid content was found
in organically grown sweet peppers, yellow plums, tomatoes and
Consumer studies continue to show that expectations concern- carrots [9,12,13], whereas others [14,15] found lower or similar
ing health effects of organic food are about the strongest motives contents of carotenoids in organically grown blanched carrots and
for consumers to buy organic products, and research results on tomatoes. From a study of Barrett et al. [10] it is known that the con-
this topic can count on high societal interest [1–3]. However, until tent of carotenoids may depend on soil type, genotype, as well as the
now these expectations lack sound scientific proof [4]. Different fertilizers and pesticides used. This might explain the inconsistency
kinds of research are being performed to investigate the health of the findings in the above-mentioned studies [10].
value of organic products compared with conventionally produced An increasing number of studies have measured the content of
products. An increasing number of studies are being published, phenolic compounds that might have a chemopreventive role in
including studies comparing the contents of ingredients of prod- humans by modulating the cancer cell cycle, inhibiting prolifer-
ucts from conventional and organic production systems, as well as ation and inducing apoptosis. A number of studies have actually
review studies. Apart from this, a much smaller number of studies shown that the content of phenolic compounds is higher in organic
have been published on effects of organic food consumption. These products [7–9,12,16–18], whereas other studies [9,12] have found
include animal and human studies on bioavailability and health similar or lower contents of phenolic compounds in organic prod-
effects, in vitro studies comparing effects of organic and conven- ucts.
tional products on different parameters in the laboratory. In this In most studies comparing conventionally with organically
paper an overview of recent studies on the topic is given, with a grown cereals, higher levels of proteins and amino acids were found
framework for estimating the scientific value of these studies. In in the conventionally produced grain (reviews by Heaton [20], Wor-
addition, the problems connected with the different approaches thington [6] and Benbrook et al. [21], and recent studies [22]). The
are being discussed. A hypothesis is presented about the possible higher N-fertilization rate in conventional production systems is
health effects that organic products might have, and suggestions very likely to explain this difference. Some studies also observed
are made for future research. that the quality of the amino acids was higher in the organic
products than in the conventional products, meaning that more
essential amino acids were available in the organic grains. These lat-
2. Comparative studies on nutritional value ter findings were not confirmed in other studies [22,23]. Apart from
the described potentially beneficial components, conclusions can
2.1. Plant products be drawn concerning lower amounts of pesticide residues [24,25],
nitrates [26,27] and equal or lower amounts of mycotoxins [25,28]
A number of studies have looked at the contents of primary and in organic crops.
secondary metabolites of food from different production systems,
e.g., organic and conventional systems. The older studies have been
reviewed [5,6]. The main conclusion was that organic products had 2.2. Animal products
a higher dry matter and lower nitrate content and contained less
pesticide residues. Regarding vitamins they concluded that there Also in animal products differences between organic and con-
were trends towards higher vitamin C contents in organic prod- ventional production systems have been observed. Milk studies
ucts, while data on mineral content were inconclusive. Since then, from the Netherlands, UK, Denmark and the USA have shown that
over 200 papers concerning nutrient content of organic vs. con- milk from organically raised animals has higher contents of n-3
ventionally produced foods have been published and it is evident linolenic acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) compared with
that the interest in this field has increased dramatically over the milk from conventional systems [29,30]. Such differences with con-
years. However, conclusions since 1997 have not changed as dra- ventionally raised animals are observed especially in summertime,
matically. In plants, the focus during the last 10 years has been on when the organically raised animals have their outdoor grazing
the contents of vitamin C, carotenoids and phenolic compounds. facilities. A recent study from the UK showed that milk from low-
Various fruits and vegetables have been investigated under differ- input systems, both organic and non-organic, has higher contents
ent climatic conditions, with different varieties and on different soil of n-3 linolenic acid and CLA, although the highest contents were
types. found in the non-organic low-input system. Outdoor grazing, a high
In a review paper, Worthington [6] presented a meta-analysis biodiversity in pastures, low levels of concentrates and no silage
showing that in most studies the level of vitamin C was signifi- feeding were found to be predominant factors for beneficial milk
cantly higher in organically than in conventionally produced plant fatty acids composition [31].
foods. Also in more recent studies, higher vitamin C contents were Most recent are two review papers from the French and the
found in many organic products, e.g., peaches [7] and tomatoes British Food Standard Agencies, both of which published in the
[8,9], although other studies reported similar or lower contents summer of 2009, but presenting quite different results [32,33]. The
of vitamin C in organic tomatoes [10], broccoli [11], bell peppers French AFSSA paper [32] mentions the earlier described results of a

Please cite this article in press as: M. Huber, et al., Organic food and impact on human health: Assessing the status quo and prospects of research,
NJAS - Wageningen J. Life Sci. (2011), doi:10.1016/j.njas.2011.01.004
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M. Huber et al. / NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences xxx (2011) xxx–xxx 3

higher dry matter content, more minerals (Fe, Mg) and more anti- that can in such a study design be measured in all study objects
oxidants like phenols and salicylic acid in organic plant products, at the same moment. The choice of food products and the way in
as well as more polyunsaturated fatty acids in organic animal prod- which they are presented are factors to take into consideration. This
ucts, apart from less nitrate in 50% of the products, 94–100% of the point will be touched upon later.
products without pesticide residues and equal amounts of myco-
toxins. The British FSA paper [33] describes a systematic review of 4.2. Observational studies
50 years of publications, with strict inclusion criteria, and mentions
more phosphorus and acidity and fewer nitrates in organic prod- Another way to study health effects in humans are the so-called
ucts, but no other differences. However, the review did not consider observational or epidemiological studies, where a large group of
most of the studies presenting data of well-controlled field trials. people is studied using questionnaires usually supplemented with
Contaminant contents were not included in the review paper. The some measurements in a smaller part of the group. Control is much
latter paper has given rise to a fierce debate concerning the in- and less as people themselves report. Investigations can look back at
exclusion criteria, which is still ongoing at the moment the present eating habits in the past, being ‘retrospective’, or follow a group
paper was submitted. from a certain moment into the future, being ‘prospective’. Ques-
tions need to address many more factors than food, e.g., life-style
factors and social status, to be able to rule out confounding. So a
3. Translation of compositional information to impact on
large group of people needs to be included in the study.
human health
4.3. Intervention studies in animals
Comparative studies on chemical composition of food products
from organic and conventional production systems are valuable
As highly controlled blinded human dietary intervention stud-
and may provide indications for possible health effects. However, it
ies, especially if intended to examine long-term physiological
should be recognized that hypotheses about effects of compounds
responses, are very expensive and difficult to realize, health effects
are often revised. Considering that plant physiologists estimate the
of foods are usually tested in animal models. Similar to human
plant world to contain up to 75,000 or even 100,000 different com-
intervention studies, in such experiments laboratory animals such
pounds, or 7500–10,000 per plant, that act synergistically in the
as rats, mice, chickens and rabbits are fed organically or convention-
plant organism, it becomes clear that even advanced methods, like
ally grown feeds, and selected physiological parameters reflecting
in systems biology that analyse hundreds or even thousands of
measurements of health status are analysed. By choosing geneti-
compounds, only portray the top of the iceberg of plant chemistry.
cally homogenous populations of animals and keeping them under
Let alone the interaction between such a complex food product
highly controlled conditions it is easier to point out health effects
and the likewise complex organism of the consumer. The first clear
of a diet. Moreover, the short life cycle of animals allows examining
complicating factor is the way in which compounds are resorbed
effects of diets on more than one generation. Systematic reviews of
by an organism, measured as bioavailability. Secondly, it is not pre-
such animal studies can give indications of possible health effects,
dictable how the consuming organism will react biologically to a
though differences between animals and men need to be taken into
food product, as this depends on individual constitutional differ-
account. Final confirmations of hypothesized effects need eventu-
ences, as well as the actual health status. And in real life, products
ally to be verified in humans.
are integrated in a food matrix, with chemical interactions between
products. This complicates the question about hypothesized effects
4.4. In vitro studies
even more. So some reticence in speculations about effects based
on analytical outcomes is due here. This is why studies that mea-
The so-called in vivo studies, referring to experimentation using
sure factual effects of food products are more informative, although
a whole, living organism, are often substituted/preceded by low-
not simple. Some approaches will be described, with a framework
cost in vitro experiments. This type of research aims at describing
for estimating the scientific value of these study designs.
the effects of experimental variables on the organism’s constituent
parts (e.g., organs, tissue- or cell cultures, cellular components) in
4. Types of studies analysing the effects of organic products a controlled environment outside the organism (test tubes, Petri
dishes). In vitro studies are highly focused, enabling to deduce
4.1. Intervention studies mechanisms of actions and to control many confounding variables.
However, weakness of this type of studies is the uncertainty that
Societal interest in health effects of organic products comes from the effects observed at cell level would occur in the ‘real world’ of
consumers. Seeking for scientific proof to answer the inquiries of the complex living organism.
this group, studies among humans are most convincing, especially The scientific value of different study designs concerning the
so-called ‘intervention studies’. In this study design as many fac- comparison of organically and conventionally produced food is pre-
tors as possible need to be controlled for a group of people (as sented in Table 1.
so many factors other than nutrition do affect people’s health and
well-being) and only the food under study is clearly varied in order 5. Recent in vitro studies
to make possible effects become visible. So either a set-up needs
to be created where a group of people is brought voluntarily into a To our knowledge, in recent years, two in vitro studies have
controlled situation, or special situations need to be found where been published comparing health-related properties of organic
groups of people live daily under the same conditions and in the vs conventional foods. The first study analysed antioxidative and
same routine, like children’s homes, monasteries or prisons. In such antimutagenic activity of organically vs conventionally produced
a controlled situation ideally two matched groups should consume green vegetables (qing-gen-cai, Chinese cabbage, spinach, Welsh
parallel either organically or conventionally grown food, blinded. onion and green pepper) [34]. The authors found antioxidative
Or a ‘cross-over’ situation is created where the different test foods activity in the organic vegetables to be much higher than that in
are presented, one after the other with sufficient time in between. the conventional ones. Moreover, organic vegetable juices exhib-
Health effects will be measured using ‘biomarkers’, identified as ited significantly stronger suppresive effects against mutagens. The
reliable reflection measurements for a person’s health status, and second study compared the effects of extracts from organically and

Please cite this article in press as: M. Huber, et al., Organic food and impact on human health: Assessing the status quo and prospects of research,
NJAS - Wageningen J. Life Sci. (2011), doi:10.1016/j.njas.2011.01.004
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Table 1
Scientific value of different study designs for comparing organically and conventionally produced food, with examples.

Study design Examples

Intervention studies Controlled studies in humans

Power of the proof

Observational or epidemiological studies Prospective cohort studies
Retrospective cohort studies
Intervention studies Controlled studies in animals
Supportive studies Bioavailability studies
In vitro studies

Adapted from GRADE Working Group [60].

conventionally grown strawberries on the proliferation of colon- were found to have less allergies and a (not statistically significant)
and breast-cancer cells [35]. The results showed higher antiprolif- lower body weight compared with a group consuming convention-
erative activity of extracts from organically grown strawberries on ally produced foods [45]. At the same time the results of the KOALA
both types of cancer cells, which was probably due to a higher con- Birth Cohort Study in the Netherlands (about 2700 newborns) asso-
tent of secondary metabolites with anticarcinogenic properties in ciated the lower eczema risk in children at the age of 2 years with
these fruits. These results suggest a possible mechanism by which the consumption of organic dairy products [46]. Moreover, organic
organic foods could reduce human cancer risks. dairy consumption resulted in higher CLA levels in breast milk of
their mothers [47]. According to a study of Rembiałkowska et al.
6. Recent animal studies [48] consumers of organic food assessed their health status signifi-
cantly better than consumers of non-organic food. However, apart
During the last 50 years several animal dietary intervention from the organic diet, this might also been related to several aspects
studies have been carried out investigating the health effects of of consumers’ lifestyle (e.g., nutritional pattern, living conditions,
organic vs conventional feeds [36]. Most of these studies con- physical activity, ways to manage stress).
firmed beneficial effects of organic feeds on development rate and As was mentioned above, pesticide residues form part of the
reproductive abilities of laboratory animals [37–39]. Moreover, ani- dangerous food contaminants known to exert genotoxic, carcino-
mal studies published in recent years indicated increased immune genic, neuro-destructive, endocrine and allergenic effects, and are
parameters in organically fed laboratory animals. In a dietary study usually found in higher contents in conventionally produced plant
with rats, comparing the effects of protein-poor organic and con- products. There is scientific evidence that dietary exposure of chil-
ventional feed Finamore et al. [40] found higher levels of stimulated dren to organophosphorus pesticides, measured as the level of
lymphocyte proliferation in the rats fed organic feed. Lauridsen pesticide metabolites in urine, is much lower on an organic than on
et al. [41] found higher immune system reactivity in organically a conventional diet [49]. It can be concluded that consumption of
fed rats, indicated by the level of IgG in blood serum, as well as organic foods provides protection against exposure to organophos-
a lower amount of fat tissue and more relaxed behaviour. A pilot phorus pesticides commonly used in agricultural practices [50].
experiment by Barańska et al. [42] showed higher splenocyte prolif-
eration in male organically fed rats. According to a study performed 7.2. Intervention studies
in the Netherlands [43], chickens fed an organic diet had lower
body weights, higher immune reactivity and stronger catch-up As several authors have stated previously, interpretation of
growth after a challenge. In this study the concept of ‘resilience’ the results from comparing organic and conventional foods is
was proposed, as to indicate physiological elasticity to come back to extremely difficult due to differences in methodologies related to
homeostasis after a disturbance. Resilience is a well known concept the use of different varieties, growing conditions and sampling
in ecology and psychology [44], and is worth investigating for its procedures. Furthermore, the contents of nutrients and secondary
value in evaluating physiological effects of organic food products, as metabolites in the plants cannot be directly related to a potential
these are grown with the aim to be more ‘robust’ than conventional health effect. First of all, the contents of primary and secondary
products. metabolites in food do not give any indication of how much they are
In summary, animal studies on the health effects of organic actually absorbed, as the absorption depends on a number of fac-
vs conventional feeds are sparse. Therefore further, well-planned tors, such as the amount of promoters and inhibitors available in the
long-term experiments are necessary to evaluate the overall health food, as well as the food matrix itself. In order to obtain more infor-
status of laboratory animals fed on feeds from different agricultural mation on uptake of valuable compounds, studies on bioavailability
production systems. and effects on specific markers for health are necessary.
To our knowledge only six human dietary controlled interven-
7. Recent studies in humans tion studies comparing organic and conventional foods have been
done. Two of these were small single-meal studies comparing the
7.1. Observational studies effects of organic and conventional apples or red wine consumption
[19,51]. In both studies the postprandial effect on biomarkers for
To our knowledge, only a few observational studies investi- redox-processes was measured. Neither study found any difference
gating the health effects on humans of organic compared with in redox markers between the organic and conventional products.
conventional foods have been performed in recent years. Accord- In two other studies, volunteers were given either organically or
ing to one of these studies, commonly named the PARSIFAL study conventionally produced carrots or tomato purée in addition to an
(14,000 children, 5 European countries), children representing an otherwise habitual diet for 2–3 weeks [8,15]. In the first study [15]
anthroposophical lifestyle (including biodynamic and organic food) no effect of the particular diets on basic haematological parameters,

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vitamin C and E in plasma, or LDL oxidation was observed. Carrot and the connected formation of primary nutrients, like proteins
consumption had also no effect on the antioxidant status of plasma. and carbohydrates, while the generative growth of these plants
However, plasma lutein increased significantly in the group con- and connected formation of secondary metabolites, like polyphe-
suming organic carrots. In the second study, in which volunteers nols and vitamins, can become inhibited [55]. The ripening stage
were fed organically or conventionally produced tomato purée for and the age of a plant at harvest also influences the amount of
three weeks in a parallel design, no differences in bioavailability desired compounds. As the generative stage follows naturally the
of lycopene, ␤-carotene or vitamin C between organic and con- vegetative stage, a harvest at too an early stage might result in
ventional tomato purée were observed [8]. The reason for the lack sturdy well transportable products that at the same time have low
of differences between groups consuming organic or conventional contents of compounds that are desirable (health promoting, and
carrots and tomato purée could be that the products tested were bringing colour, taste and smell). It is questionable if artificial ripen-
given in addition to a habitual diet, which could have diluted any ing through ethylene brings about the same quality of ripening as
effect that there might have been between the production meth- when the ripening takes place on the plant under influence of the
ods. In order to assure that such a dilution does not appear, fully sun. Weather is another important factor strongly influencing the
controlled dietary studies are needed. Only two such studies have composition of plant products. Observed year-to-year variation due
been done so far [52,53]. to weather conditions is often larger than the differences between
A small and very poorly described Italian study intended to com- production systems [55,56,57].
pare the effects of an organic vs a conventional Mediterranean diet The lack of a straightforward relationship between nutritional
given to 10 healthy men for 2 weeks. According to the results, the value and health is another reason why it has been difficult so far
plasma antioxidant status following the organic diet appeared to be to draw conclusions from comparative studies on the health effects
higher than following the conventional diet. As no standard devia- of organic foods. As the bioavailability of chemicals is limited and
tions were given it is not possible to conclude whether or not the can be affected by numerous factors, the contents of nutrients and
difference was statistically significant. Furthermore, it looked as secondary metabolites in plants cannot give straightforward indi-
if the study was not randomized, which means that the observed cations of their health effect.
effect might be due to later harvesting so that more mature prod- When intervention studies on health effects are performed sev-
ucts were used in the second period of the study. In the same study, eral choices concerning the consumed food products need to be
antioxidant activity was measured in a number of fruits and veg- made. Least preferable are random market samples, as no indica-
etables, and in wine and milk. In the majority of these products the tion about production conditions is available [58]. Products from
activity was highest in the organic products [52]. controlled trials have the advantage of the control. However, they
The other study was a fully controlled dietary intervention with lack the embeddedness in a complete farming system, which for
organic or conventional diets fed to 16 male and female volun- organic products might be a disadvantage. Another possibility is
teers in a randomized cross over design for 2 × 3 weeks [53]. The the use of products from ‘best-practice farm-pairs’, a conventional
study aimed at a comparison of the intake and excretion of selected and neighbouring organic farm. Choice for the same or acceptance
flavonoids, and the plasma levels of known oxidative defence mark- of different varieties is also a point of discussion. It can be argued
ers in both groups of volunteers. The organic diet resulted in higher that the same crop variety (or animal breeds) should be used in
urinary excretion of quercetin and kaempherol, while no differ- order to avoid an important factor of variability, as it is known
ence was observed between the diets in respect of the excretion of that different crop varieties can contain quite different contents
other analysed flavonoids. Most markers of antioxidative defense of the same nutritive substances. It can, however, also be argued
did not differ between the diets. However, intake of an organic that organically managed soils are so different that adapted vari-
diet resulted in an increased protein oxidation and a decreased eties are needed with different root systems. That implies that each
total plasma antioxidant capacity compared with the conventional production method should use its own varieties. A last choice is if
diet. In this study the vegetables were collected by one distribu- analytical differences in feeds observed are accepted as being typi-
tor from established organic and conventional producers within cal characteristics of these feeds inherent to the production system
similar geographical locations. However, for some of the products where they originate from, or that it is necessary to compensate
the producers used different crop varieties so that it cannot be for those differences in order to allow research to identify (possi-
concluded whether the observed differences in the human inter- ble) differences other than those at macro nutrient content level. A
vention study were due to the differences in varieties as part of the factor of discussion in health effect studies is the choice of health
production method or to differences in production method. outcomes that are considered relevant for conclusions. Recently the
systematic review of the FSA [59] took ‘health outcomes’ as effects
on defined diseases in humans and concluded that evidence for
8. Discussion health effects is lacking. It is questionable if foods from different
production systems will have such ‘strong’ effects of influencing
The overall number of studies comparing the nutritional value of existing pathologies, while yet possibly still support health.
organic vs. conventional foods is growing. There also is an increas- On the basis of the experiments done so far a hypothesis might
ing interest in investigating the health effects of organic food be: ‘organic food consumption may increase the capacity of living
consumption. Results of comparative studies, as well as in vitro organisms towards resilience’. However, to confirm this statement
analyses, animal intervention trials and human observations are it is necessary to perform more effect studies on specific health
promising. However, the results are still insufficient to formulate markers.
explicit conclusions.
One problem is the variation in outcomes of comparative stud-
ies, which is very high depending mainly on crop fertilization,
ripening stage and plant age at harvest, and weather conditions. 9. Towards the future
First, the amount of fertilizer used differs largely between con-
ventional and organic production [54]. Second, also the type of With the information gathered in the studies thus far, indica-
fertilizer is of influence, being either quickly available nitrate in tions have been found of potential health effects of organic food for
inorganic fertilizer, or slowly available nitrate in organic fertilizer. humans. To further elucidate this relationship, future studies need
Generally, large amounts of fertilizer enhance vegetative growth to be performed in several areas.

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