title: Organic Food in the Diet: Exposure and Health Implications.
abstract: The market for organic food products is growing rapidly worldwide. Such foods meet certified organic standards for production, handling, processing, and marketing. Most notably, the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and genetic modification is not allowed. One major reason for the increased demand is the perception that organic food is more environmentally friendly and healthier than conventionally produced food. This review provides an update on market data and consumer preferences for organic food and summarizes the scientific evidence for compositional differences and health benefits of organic compared with conventionally produced food. Studies indicate some differences in favor of organic food, including indications of beneficial health effects. Organic foods convey lower pesticide residue exposure than do conventionally produced foods, but the impact of this on human health is not clear. Comparisons are complicated by organic food consumption being strongly correlated with several indicators of a healthy lifestyle and by conventional agriculture "best practices" often being quite close to those of organic.
authors.affiliation: Domain of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, 0403 Norway; email: AnneLise.Brantsaeter@fhi.no , Margaretha.Haugen@fhi.no , Helle.Margrete.Meltzer@fhi.no.
authors.forename: Anne Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Brantsæter
authors.affiliation: Statistics Norway, Oslo, 0033 Norway; email: t_a_ydersbond@yahoo.no.
authors.forename: Trond A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ydersbond
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Health and Environment, Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695; email: jahoppin@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Jane A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hoppin
authors.affiliation: Domain of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, 0403 Norway; email: AnneLise.Brantsaeter@fhi.no , Margaretha.Haugen@fhi.no , Helle.Margrete.Meltzer@fhi.no.
authors.forename: Margaretha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haugen
authors.affiliation: Domain of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, 0403 Norway; email: AnneLise.Brantsaeter@fhi.no , Margaretha.Haugen@fhi.no , Helle.Margrete.Meltzer@fhi.no.
authors.forename: Helle Margrete
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Meltzer
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D004032:Diet; D005502:Food; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D058870:Food, Organic; D006801:Humans; D009753:Nutritive Value
keywords: compositional differences; health effects; naturalness; organic food; organic vegetables