It is the preferred fare of millions of health-conscious Britons. But eating organic food could make you fat, experts have warned.
 
A study has shown that people tend to assume that organic foods – particularly snacks – contain fewer calories that their conventionally-produced counterparts, so buy and eat more.
 
For those for whom buying organic is a treat, this is unlikely to have any major consequences. But people who decide to ‘go organic’, could soon find themselves piling on the pounds.
 
Healthy choice? It is the preferred fare of millions of health-conscious Britons. But eating organic food could make you fat, experts have warned as people assume it contains fewer calories than non-organic counterparts
The warning comes from American researchers who investigated whether the sight of an organic label was enough to imbue a food with a range of desirable attributes.
 
Almost 150 shoppers were asked to taste what they thought were conventionally and organically-produced chocolate biscuits, yoghurts and crisps.
 
In fact, all of the products were organic but some had just been deliberately mis-labelled.
 
The shoppers are asked how tasty and nutritious they found the snacks, how many calories they thought they contained and how much they’d be willing to pay for them.
 
The ‘organic’ foods were by and large judged to be 40 per cent lower in calories.
 
They were also perceived to be lower in fat and higher in fibre, tastier and worth paying more for, the annual conference of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology heard.
 
This is despite them actually being identical to their conventionally-labelled counterparts.
 
Cornell University researcher Jenny Wan-chen Lee believes this is an example of something known as the ‘halo effect’.
 
Just as we often assume that attractive person must be intelligent too, we may automatically decide that organic food is better for us than other types of food.
 
Miss Lee acknowledges that she only tested a small number of foods but believes her findings still have relevance to the real world.
 
For instance, if people for some reason believe organic foods, produced without the aid of pesticides, artificial fertilisers and intensive farming techniques, have many fewer calories, they may end up eating far too much and put on weight.
 
She said: ‘Some people mistakenly assume that these foods are more nutritious, just because they carry an organic label.
 
‘The emergence and growing popularity of organic snack foods has led to some concern, as these foods may not necessarily be healthier than their non-organic counterparts, but still may led consumers to be susceptible to nutritional misjudgements.
 
Clever marketing: A large-scale study commissioned by the Food Standards Agency declared organically-produced fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy products to be no more healthy or nutritious than other food
‘If people perceive a food to be more nutritious they tend to let their guard down when it comes to counting calories – ultimately leading them to overeat or feel entitled to indulge.’
 
The study focussed on snack foods but questions have previously been raised about the health benefits of more traditional organic foods.
 
A large-scale study commissioned by the Food Standards Agency declared organically-produced fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy products to be no more healthy or nutritious than other food.
 
Dr Alan Dangour, a public health nutritionist and lead researcher, said: ‘The shift in demand among consumers from conventionally to organically produced foodstuffs appears to have arisen at least in part from a belief that organically produced foodstuffs are healthier and have a superior nutrient profile.
 
‘A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally-produced crops and livestock but these are unlikely to be of any public health significance.
 
‘Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.’
 
But critics pointed out that the 2009 study ignored possible side-effects from pesticides and that organic farming may be better for the welfare of livestock.
 
Last night, the Soil Association said: ‘People are buying organic because they know it makes sense for themselves, for wildlife and for the planet.
 
‘Avoiding potentially harmful chemical residues in food is the strongest motivating factor for buying organic products.’
 
 
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