Are organic foods really better?
Evaluation of 50 food tests
As the Stiftung Warentest announced now, both the quality of organic and conventional foods has increased. Where previously "sufficient" or "poor" was more often found in both groups, today there are "good" and "satisfactory" overall judgments. By and large, comparing 1020 conventional foods with 217 organic foods shows that, in principle, organic is not automatically better, healthier or tastier.
In terms of quality, appearance, smell and taste, it is therefore undecided between the foods. This was also shown by blind tastings.
Organic products have problems with pollutants
Both conventional foods and organic products had problems with pollutants, according to the test report. Admittedly, the potentially carcinogenic anthraquinone is supposed to enter the food unintentionally during production. But that's precisely why organic suppliers need to monitor production better. Incidentally, the pollutants were found in black and green tea and linseed oil. For organic noodles tested, even the maximum level for a mold poison has been exceeded, while organic sunflower oil contains critical mineral oils.
However, there is one ray of hope: Bio scored points in terms of pesticides - in particular, fruits and vegetables with a well-known organic seal are far ahead of conventional foods and "by far the cleanest". In conventional fruits and vegetables, the testers found residues of weed and pest killers.
Why Bio is still the better solution
Organic and Conventional: Two groups that seem to be undecided. Both have to deal with pollutants, both have an average good quality. Those who are spoiled for choice should consider a decisive strength of organic products: transparency.
The providers know their suppliers in most cases and are committed to the welfare of the animals. Even though there are of course large industrial companies today, where up to 11,000 laying hens live. So there is still a lot of room for improvement. For animal lovers, organic meat is still the better choice. But you also have to dig deeper into the bag.
