According to a latest report by the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA), organic food is of better quality than conventional food, with fewer pesticides and less nitrate (a substance linked to a range of health problems, including diabetes and Alzheimer's disease). Shane Heaton, a nutritionist in Australian ecological agriculture, believes that this study has conducted a fairly thorough and rigorous assessment of the nutrition and quality of organic food. This study also found that organic food contains higher levels of minerals and antioxidants, and has many other benefits. This is in direct contrast to another assessment recently published and commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency, which was widely reported by the media as showing that organic food has no more benefits than non-organic food. Shane Heaton's research, through data such as dry matter content, antioxidant content, pesticide levels, and nitrate content, reached a fair conclusion: organic food surpasses ordinary food in many respects.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
The key points of the research by the French food safety agency are:文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
1. Organic plant products contain more dry matter (denser, more nutritious)文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
2. Organic plant products have higher mineral content文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
3. Organic plant products contain more antioxidants, such as phenols and salicylic acid (known to help prevent cancer, heart disease, and other health problems)文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
4. There is insufficient evidence regarding carbohydrate, protein, and vitamin content文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
5. 94-100% of organic food contains no pesticide residues.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
6. Organic vegetables contain much less nitrate, about 50% less (high nitrate levels are associated with a range of health problems, including diabetes and various types of dementia)文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
7. Organic grains and conventional grains contain the same amount of mycotoxins文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
8. Organically raised cattle have more lean meat and more unsaturated fatty acids than conventional cattle.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/
9. Organic chicken contains only one-half to one-third of the fat of conventional chicken, and its content of n-3 fatty acids (reported to have anti-cancer effects and other health benefits) is significantly higher than that of conventional chicken.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11206/