Organic food

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fruit and vegetable stand at the Bonn organic market at Münster (2008)

As organic foods are foods from organic farming referred. The term is defined by law in the EU . These products must come from ecologically controlled cultivation, must not be genetically modified and are grown without the use of chemical-synthetic pesticides , artificial fertilizers or sewage sludge . Animal products come from animals that are kept in a species-appropriate manner in accordance with the EU organic regulation and have generally not been treated with antibiotics and growth hormones . The products are non- ionizing and contain fewer food additives than conventional foods, but may contain up to 5% non-organically produced ingredients.

Organic logo

The EC organic regulation of 2007 defines how agricultural products and foodstuffs that are labeled as organic products must be produced and labeled. In order to differentiate between conventionally and organically produced food, Germany introduced the state-controlled organic seal in 2001 , with which only products manufactured in accordance with the EU organic regulation may be labeled. While organic food is a synonym for food from controlled organic cultivation, organic food can also be produced conventionally.

Organic foods are available in health food stores , health food stores and increasingly in food retailers and supermarkets . There are a number of ecological cultivation associations in Germany, some of whose guidelines are significantly stricter than those prescribed by the EC organic regulation.

When switching from conventional agriculture to organic farming, there is a decrease in the production volume per unit area, which varies depending on the food produced. Against the background that the production volume of individual foods is insufficient to cover current consumption (e.g. for grain in the agricultural years 2012/2013 and 2018/2019), this is a disadvantage of organic agriculture.

Organic apples
Organic apples

history

The forerunners of modern organic food can be seen at least partially in the natural food movement (see life reform ), the settlement on Monte Verità and other groups that combined nutrition and consciousness at the beginning of the 20th century. These forerunners had their basis in nutrition teachings on whole foods and in vegetarianism . In the beginning, natural food consisted mainly of fresh vegetables. Consumers at the time who were interested in natural food were looking for food that was free of additives, fresh or only minimally processed. The Demeter cultivation association has been promoting biodynamic agriculture on an anthroposophical basis since the 1920s .

The modern health food movement experienced an upswing in the hippie era of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The proverbial muesli gained popularity (see also macrobiotics , whole foods ). In the 1970s, the first organic shops in West Germany opened in Berlin , Hamburg and Münster . At the end of the 1970s there were around 100 of these shops nationwide. The spread of natural food has increased since the mid-1980s.

The focus on low-processed foods was increasingly accompanied by the importance of "organic" cultivation. In 1971 the registered association "bio-vegetables" was founded, the forerunner of the widespread Bioland cultivation association for organic food (founded in 1976). In 1979 the Biokreis cultivation association was added, and in 1982 the Naturland cultivation association . In the mid-1980s there were around 2,000 producers of organic food in Germany alone who practice organic farming . In 2000 an EU organic seal for organic agriculture and organic farming was issued, and in 2001 the German state organic seal was introduced. Frozen organic complementary foods have also been available as baby food in Germany since 2010 . In 2015, over a million hectares (approx. 6.4%) were farmed organically in Germany.

Organic foods will no longer be niche products by 2019 at the latest, but have arrived in the mainstream, report the business journalists of Deutschlandfunk. As early as 2017, the German organic cultivation companies exceeded the mark of ten billion euros in sales for the first time with an increase of six percent. The industry association Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft again saw an increase of a similar magnitude for 2018. Even the important society for consumer research says that organic has become mainstream.

Types of health food

Dairy products, baked goods, vegetables and fruits are often organic foods in demand. Processed organic foods are mostly in supermarkets , natural food stores and organic supermarkets sold. Processed organic foods usually only contain (or at least expressly stated) organic ingredients and no artificial food additives such as colorings, preservatives, flavor enhancers , artificial flavors or stabilizers . In addition, the end products must not have been processed using artificial methods, materials or processes such as artificial ripening or food irradiation . The Stiftung Warentest regularly examines whether organic food is qualitatively better than conventionally manufactured products as part of food tests .

Health effects

Differences in health effects between conventionally produced and organic foods have been the subject of numerous studies. Overall, the studies did not come to any clear results, and numerous studies did not find any clear evidence of the health benefits of organic foods. Most organic foods had fewer pesticide residues. A more recent study by EFSA shows significantly lower levels of pesticides in organic food. In some studies, higher nutrient levels were found. There was no clear evidence of the health benefits of organic foods. A study based on data on 600,000 women suggests an increased breast cancer risk and a reduced risk of developing a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of developing, out. Another study shows the same effect in non-Hodgkin lymphoma and a reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer .

Pesticide residues

According to a review from 2006, pesticide residues were found in conventional foods around three to five times as often as in organic foods. If one compares the samples in which pesticide residues were found, the contamination with organic food was usually lower. However, even with conventionally produced foods, residues were too low to pose a health risk.

A review article published in 2014 came to a similar conclusion. It found that conventional fruits, vegetables and conventional crops contain pesticide residues four times as often as organically grown ones. The number of studies was still too small to make scientifically robust statements. Statements about health effects could not be made.

A review from 2012 found two studies that reported lower levels of pesticide residues in the urine of children. The risk of exceeding limit values ​​for the intake of pesticides was lower when consuming organic food.

The distinction between natural and synthetic pesticides for assessing their health effects is viewed as problematic in medical research. There is no chemical difference between a synthetically produced and the same naturally occurring (i.e., plant-synthesized) pesticide. An analysis of 52 natural pesticides found that 27 of them were carcinogenic to rodents in high doses. These pesticides can also be found in common foodstuffs, often in concentrations many times higher than residues from synthetic pesticides as a whole. Researchers suspect that the body's own defense mechanisms against toxic natural pesticides could work in a similar way against synthetic pesticides. Synthetic pesticides could therefore pose a relatively minor health hazard. The risk posed by a pesticide depends on its specific effectiveness and the combination with other pesticides and cannot be answered based on the source, natural or synthetic.

Nutritional content

In a review of 41 published scientific studies that compared the nutritional value of organically and conventionally grown vegetables, fruits and grains, the American nutritionist Virginia Worthington came to the conclusion that organic foods contain significantly more nutrients from different groups. On average, organic raw materials contained 27% more vitamin C , 21.1% more iron , 29.3% more magnesium and 13.6% more phosphorus . In addition, the organic products contained 15.1% less nitrates than the conventional comparison group. An influence on health was not proven.

In a study by the Senate of the Federal Research Centers , slight differences in the nutrient content of organically and conventionally grown vegetables were found, but contradicting results prevent unambiguous conclusions. According to the report, further investigations of the functional differences - for example, antioxidative and antimutagenic potential - are necessary to determine the health value of vegetables according to cultivation methods .

A number of other studies also compared the nutrient content, in some cases a significantly higher nutrient content was found, especially for organic acids and polyphenol compounds, in some cases there were no significant differences. There are also phytochemicals that are harmful to health, some of which are found in organic foods, others more frequently in conventional foods.

A review published by the University of London in 2009 identified 55 relevant studies published between 1958 and 2008 that compared the nutritional content of conventional and organic foods and were of sufficient quality. No significant differences were found for most of the nutrients examined. Nitrogen tends to be found in higher concentrations in conventional products, phosphorus and total titratable acids in organic foods.

According to the BMEL , some studies indicate that organic foods have a comparatively higher dry matter. This is attributed to slower growth and maturation times.

A review by scientists at Stanford University published in September 2012 found consistently significantly higher concentrations in organic foods only for phosphorus, which, however, were not clinically significant. It came to the conclusion that research so far has not been able to provide any clear evidence of significantly higher nutrient content in organically produced foods.

A review from 2014, which evaluated 343 publications, found a higher content of antioxidants, especially polyphenols. According to the authors, the higher concentration of polyphenols could most likely contribute to improved nutrition. Whether this is actually the case and whether it offers a health benefit is unclear.

So far, there has been little research into any health effects derived from different nutritional values ​​themselves. A review by the University of London identified twelve relevant studies between 1958 and 2008. It concluded that there was no evidence of nutritional-related health effects from consumption ecologically instead of conventionally produced food.

Heavy metals

Organic foods often contain significantly lower concentrations of cadmium . There are no significant differences for lead and arsenic . Since heavy metals accumulate in the human body, a lower intake is desirable. However, there is no precise knowledge of any health benefits from the lower cadmium concentration.

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

There is scientific evidence that consuming organic, rather than conventional, chicken and pork can reduce exposure to multi- antibiotic- resistant bacteria.

Enjoyment value

Scientific studies in which test subjects were subjected to taste tests have not confirmed the assumption that organically produced foods generally taste better. In some cases organic, in others conventional products received better average taste ratings. The aim of not all studies was to completely isolate the taste effects of ecological cultivation and rearing methods (e.g. pesticides and fertilizers or free-range husbandry), which is sometimes required by science. Among other things, the aim was to find out whether organic foods taste better than conventional ones in accordance with common advertising messages. In this context, the British supermarket chain Tesco advertised that consumers would notice a difference in taste between organically and conventionally produced fruit and vegetables. The Advertising Standards Authority was unable to confirm the truthfulness of this statement in a study and asked Tesco in 2000 to change its advertising brochure accordingly.

Share of organic products in food sales

country Share (%) of total
food sales (2018)
Belgium 3
Denmark 11.5
Germany 5.3
Finland 2.4
France 4.8
Italy 3.2
Croatia 2.2
Luxembourg 8th
Netherlands 4.7
Norway 1.7
Austria 8.9
Poland 0.2
Sweden 9.6
Switzerland 9.9
United States 5.7
United Kingdom 1.5

German consumers spent 132 euros per capita in 2018 on organically produced food. In absolute terms, Germany is the largest organic market in Europe, but other countries are ahead in terms of per capita sales. The Danes and the Swiss spend most of the money on organic products (312 euros each), followed by the Swedes (226 euros). On average, Europeans bought organic food for 51.1 euros per year, in the EU-28 it was 73 euros. Sales of organic products in Europe rose to 40.69 billion euros.

In Denmark and Sweden, supermarkets had a market share of over 90% for organic products in 2017. Most of the turnover from the sale of organic food to end consumers is made in Germany by Aldi , followed by Edeka and Rewe, and in Switzerland by Coop , followed by Migros .

See also

literature

  • Alex A. Avery: The Truth About Organic Food . Thuß & van Riesen, Jena 2008, ISBN 978-3-940431-01-1 (Original title: The truth about organic foods . Translated by the TvR translation team).
  • Andrea Flemmer: organic food. Why they are really healthier . 3. Edition. Humboldt, Hannover 2011, ISBN 978-3-86910-440-9 .
  • Kai Kreuzer, Karin Drube: Organic Marketing. Marketing channels for food from organic production . Pala, Darmstadt 1996, ISBN 3-89566-120-1 .
  • Claus Leitzmann, Sylvia Pfaff (Hrsg.): Practical handbook organic food . Loose-leaf work, Behr's Verlag, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-89947-109-0 .
  • Dirk Maxeiner: Organic food & eco cult: which food is really good for us and our environment. Piper, Munich / Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-492-25400-7 .
  • Sabine Plaßmann-Weidauer: The importance of the price when buying organic food: Price knowledge and willingness to pay among organic consumers (= studies on consumer behavior , volume 39). Kovač, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-8300-5947-9 ( dissertation Uni Kassel 2011).
  • Volkert Engelsman, Bernward Geier: The prices lie - Why cheap food is expensive for us. Oekom-Verlag , Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-96238-013-7 .

Web links

Commons : Organic Food  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source: European Commission consumer information on the EU organic logo ( Memento from November 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ UN estimate: Grain harvest does not cover consumption Report on the news site www.tagesschau.de of the German state television broadcaster Das Erste on April 7, 2019, accessed on April 7, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c Ulrich Walter: Future that tastes ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 143 kB).
  4. ↑ Babyviduals - an alternative to cooking yourself In: WiM - Economy in Middle Franconia. 04/2011, p. 72.
  5. ↑ Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft Figures, data, facts, Die Bio-Branche 2016 ( Memento from March 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), pages 5 and 19.
  6. ↑ Bio has arrived in the mainstream , Deutschlandfunk , published and accessed February 13, 2019.
  7. ↑ Organic food: mass instead of class test.de from April 26, 2007, accessed on February 16, 2015.
  8. ↑ a b c d Crystal Smith-Spangler, Margaret L. Brandeau, Grace E. Hunter, J. Clay Bavinger, Maren Pearson, Paul J. Eschbach, Vandana Sundaram, Hau Liu, Patricia Schirmer, Christopher Stave, Ingram Olkin, Dena M Bravata: Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives ?: A Systematic Review. Annals of Internal Medicine 157 (5): 348-366.
  9. ^ A b c d e Winter, C. & Davis, S. (2006): Organic Foods. Journal of Food Science, Vol. 71, No. 9, 2006, doi: 10.1111 / j.1750-3841.2006.00196.x
  10. ↑ a b c d e Marcin Barański et al .: Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyzes . In: British Journal of Nutrition . 2014, doi : 10.1017 / S0007114514001366 ( Online [PDF]).
  11. ↑ Monitoring data on pesticide residues in food: results on organic versus conventionally produced food. In: EFSA Supporting Publications. 15, 2018, doi: 10.2903 / sp.efsa.2018.EN-1397 .
  12. ↑ a b Virginia Worthington: Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains , published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2001 (pp. 161-173)
  13. ↑ a b c Source: Evaluation of foods from different production processes, Senate of the Federal Research Centers, Status Report 2003 (pp. 46–50) .
  14. ↑ a b Alan D Dangour et al .: Nutrition-related health effects of organic foods: a systematic review . In: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . May 12, 2010 ( online ). , Press release: Organic review published. Food Standards Agency, July 29, 2009, accessed August 10, 2014 .
  15. Jump up ↑ KE Bradbury, A. Balkwill, EA Spencer, AW Roddam, GK Reeves, J. Green, TJ Key, V. Beral, K. Pirie: Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom. In: British Journal of Cancer. 110, 2014, p. 2321, doi: 10.1038 / bjc.2014.148 .
  16. ↑ Julia Baudry, Karen E. Assmann, Mathilde Touvier, Benjamin Allès, Louise Seconda, Paule Latino-Martel, Khaled Ezzedine, Pilar Galan, Serge Hercberg, Denis Lairon, Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot: Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer Risk . In: JAMA Internal Medicine. 2018, doi: 10.1001 / jamainternmed.2018.4357 .
  17. ↑ Ames, B., Profet, M., Gold, S. (1990): Dietary pesticides (99.99% all natural). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. October 1, 1990, Vol. 87, No. 19, pp. 7777-7781.
  18. ↑ Bruce N. Ames et al .: Nature's chemicals and synthetic chemicals: Comparative toxicology . In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . tape 87 , October 1990, p. 7782 .
  19. ↑ Lorenzo Tomatis: Alleged 'misconceptions' distort perceptions of environmental cancer risks . In: The FASEB Journal . tape 15 , no. January 1 , 2001, doi : 10.1096 / fj.99-1056com ( online ).
  20. ↑ Faidon Magkos, Fotini Arvaniti, Antonis Zampelas: Organic Food: Buying More Safety or Just Peace of Mind? A Critical Review of the Literature . In: Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition . tape 46 , 2006, p. 34 , doi : 10.1080 / 10408690490911846 .
  21. ↑ Alan D Dangour et al .: Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systematic review . In: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . July 29, 2009 ( online ).
  22. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ↑ Lewis Smith: An unhealthy row: report Claiming organic food is better divides UK scientists . In: The Independent . July 11, 2010 ( online ).
  24. ^ A. Haglund, L. Johansson, L. Berglund, L. Dahlstedt: Sensory evaluation of carrots from ecological and conventional growing systems. In: Food Quality and Preference. 10, 1998, pp. 23-29, doi: 10.1016 / S0950-3293 (98) 00034-2 .
  25. ↑ Martin Talavera-Bianchi, Edgar Chambers IV, Edward E Carey, Delores H Chambers: Effect of organic production and fertilizer variables on the sensory properties of pac choi (Brassica rapa var. Mei Qing Choi) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. Bush Celebrity ). In: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture . 2010, pp. N / a – n / a, doi: 10.1002 / jsfa.3907 .
  26. ^ LV Svec, CA Thoroughgood, Hyo Chung S. Mok: Chemical evaluation of vegetables grown with conventional or organic soil amendments. In: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 7, 2008, pp. 213-228, doi: 10.1080 / 00103627609366634 .
  27. ↑ E. Dransfield, TM Ngapo, NA Nielsen, L. Bredahl, PO Sjödén, M. Magnusson, MM Campo, GR Nute: Consumer choice and suggested price for pork as Influenced by its appearance, taste and information Concerning country of origin and organic pig production. In: Meat Science. 69, 2005, pp. 61-70, doi: 10.1016 / j.meatsci.2004.06.006 .
  28. ↑ Lester, G. (2006): Organic versus Conventionally Grown Produce: Quality Differences, and Guidelines for Comparison Studies. Horticultural Science, Vol. 4, No. 2, 296-300. ( Memento from August 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  29. ↑ Laurence Fillion, Stacey Arazi: Does organic food taste better? A claim substantiation approach. In: Nutrition & Food Science. 32, 2002, pp. 153-157, doi : 10.1108 / 00346650210436262 .
  30. ↑ a b BÖLW: Industry report 2020 (PDF; 7.9 MB) Organic food industry. In: boelw.de . February 2020, accessed February 25, 2020 .
  31. ↑ The European organic market saw double-digit growth in 2017. In: boelw.de . Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
  32. ↑ Lena Anzenhofer: Lidl wants to attract new customers with a complete range of products In: businessinsider.de , October 12, 2018, accessed on October 13, 2018.
  33. ↑ Michael Bolzli: Coop and Migros: The Swiss are increasingly buying organic products In: nau.ch , March 28, 2018, accessed on October 13, 2018.