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WSU: Organic foods more nutritious than non-organic

By Nick McGurk
A new worldwide study, led by a Washington State University researcher, says organic fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than their non-organic counterparts.
By Nick McGurk
A new worldwide study, led by a Washington State University researcher, says organic fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than their non-organic counterparts.

PULLMAN, Wash. — Professor Chuck Benbrook led a study that covered more than two decades of research.

"The bottom line is that how you grow food, how it's fertilized, impacts the nutritional quality of it,” said Benbrook.

The study is the largest ever of its kind, he says, and it shows organic fruits, vegetables and grains contain: 20 to 40 percent less antioxidants than non-organic, fewer pesticides and half the toxic heavy metal cadmium.

"It's like consuming 1 to 2 extra servings of fruits or vegetables a day, in terms of the antioxidants,” said Benbrook.

At Pike Place Market, KIRO 7 spoke with people whose opinions varied as much as the products on sale.
Jessie Chandler sells cherries and says organic is “absolutely not” better than non-organic, which he sells.

Sandy Sessums says she isn't sure whether it's healthier to eat organic, but she knows non-organic has ingredients she doesn't want. 

“We want all the chemical use out of it,” said Sessums.

The recent study is in contrast to a Stanford University study in 2012, which found little evidence organic foods bring health benefits.
Professor Benbrook says that fewer pesticides and more antioxidants mean more nutrition. But he says the real research now is whether those actually lead to better health.

WJAX

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