Organic foods bite back.

• Aug. 16 by Phil Gordon (0)

A recent report published by the Food Standards Agency has left a sour taste in the collective mouths of Birmingham organic food buisnesses. Organic buisnesses have been under enough pressure with the recession, damning reports and comissioned findings such as these are only making the problem for organic food sales a whole lot worse…

The paper published on July 29th by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition questions the benefits organic foods have on consumer’s health.

Dr Alan Dangour, the driving force and principal author behind the paper said,

“Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically-produced foods over conventionally-produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”

Organic foods have become increasingly popular in the past few years, majorly due to TV programmes such as Jamie Oliver’s crusade against traditional school dinners for example. These programmes mirror and shape our current health obsessed society.

Whilst we may be aware of our weight, the weight of our wallets is a much larger concern in today’s financial climate. Many businesses specialising in organic food believe consumers will be put off and mislead by studies such as this and opt for cheaper, manufactured foods opposed to their pricier organic brands due to the recession.

Simon Dunmore, Edgebaston grocer, claims to have lost up to 50% of sales in organic foods due to the credit crunch. Simon mirrored the anger felt by organic businesses across the whole country when he spoke to The Birmingham Post,

“Something like this report is not good on top of that,” he said. “It could destroy the industry. The claims are absolute rubbish. I can’t believe they’ve said it”.