When is organic worthwhile?
Organic food is healthy and usually animal and environmentally friendly. But for many people ultimately a question of price. Because for organically produced meat you pay easily three to four times as much as for conventionally produced. For fruits and vegetables you have to expect about one and a half times. On the other hand, conventional foods are not generally worse than organic products. Especially with unprocessed food, which originate from the region and are bought seasonally, you can do little wrong. A guide to when organic is worthwhile.
fruit and vegetables
Fruit, vegetables and potatoes from Germany are consistently harmless, as far as the pollution is concerned. In imports, such as from India, Thailand, Kenya or Egyptian be found on the other hand repeatedly high levels of pesticides, especially in grapes, strawberries and peppers.
What is better with organic? Whether from South America or from the Mediterranean? Organic vegetables and fruits contain by far the lowest residues of harmful substances. In addition, they contain more nutrients (vitamin C, phytochemicals) and less water.
What to do? Conventional fruits and vegetables are okay if you shop seasonally and regionally. Then the burden with nitrate and sprays is the lowest and the nutrient content highest. Dutch products also perform well in tests. If you have small children or do not want to worry about what season and what has where, is better served with organic products.
milk
Milk is considered "clean" in terms of the classic pesticide loads. Residues are at most in the range of the detection limit. Nevertheless, milk is not without problems. It may contain antibiotic residues as a result of treating sick dairy cows. To prove this is costly and time-consuming and is therefore seldom done.
What is better with organic? Organic cows are treated homeopathically or with plant-based remedies in the event of illness - Antibiotics are only permitted in exceptional cases. The animals are not exclusively in the stable, but may also get out. Instead of concentrated feed they eat grass, hay, green fodder and turnips from organic farming. The feed also changes the fatty acid pattern of the milk? It contains more vital omega-3 fatty acids.
What to do? For milk, it is recommended to use the organic version.
cheese
Cheese is often less "nature" than you think. It ripens with genetically engineered enzyme (chimosin). Some varieties are preserved with nitrate, and in cut and hard cheeses the bark is often treated with the antibiotic natamycin. In cream cheese preparations can thickeners stuck. Is all health not worrying, as long as you cut off the sliced cheese bark generous and limit your Nitratzufuhr total (nitrate is, for example, in greenhouse vegetables).
What is better with organic? Organic cheese ripens with natural lab enzyme or rennet from mold fungus cultures, so that genetic engineering can be dispensed with. The cheese is only treated with additives in strictly regulated cases. As a rule, organic cheese tastes more intense and always different: it is less standardized and the milk used comes from grazing cattle that eat green fodder.
What to do? Generally you are on the safe side with Bio. Only with Swiss mountain cheese may it also be conventional commodity, because also comes out without antibiotic treatment. In the case of conventional soft and cream cheeses, natural varieties (without the addition of herbs, salmon, ham or similar) contain the fewest additives.
loaf
The large variety of bread that we appreciate so much has its price. It is not without additives in the production of bread, such as hydrocolloids, acids, emulsifiers. Preservatives are also allowed for packaged bread. The more milled and lighter the flour, the less taste and health are in bread and rolls. At least as far as pollutants are concerned, no appreciable quantities are found. But: Conventional cereal cultivation uses fungal, weed and insecticides, and they also end up in flour.
What is better with organic? Whole grain throughout, no chemical-synthetic additives. The organic bakery works with organic yeast, sourdough and honey backferment. And he gives the bread time to go. That's why it tastes more substantial.
What to do? If you want pure nature, buy from the organic bakery. The bread is also durable. But its firm consistency and strong taste are not for everyone.
cereal
Cereals from conventional manufacturers are often contaminated with pesticides. Thus, the magazine Öko-Test had found the plant protection agent glyphosate in oatmeal, flour and bread rolls. The product is one of the most widely used herbicides and is also used as a maturing accelerator in cereals cultivation.
What is better with organic? In organic cereal cultivation, pesticides are taboo.In addition, muesli mixtures do not contain sulfurized fruits (sulfur prevents discoloration, but can cause headaches in sensitive people). Also, the risk that nuts are contaminated with the mold fungus Aflatoxin, very low. Because every nut is controlled individually. So fastidious are the conventional providers not? Consumers need to rely on the routine controls of the authorities.
What to do? Whether you mix now or buy a ready made cereal? best organic. But beware: Organic cereals are not necessarily lower in sugar. They can contain honey, which provides almost as many calories as sugar. In particular, crunchy ingredients usually have a sugar or honey coating.
eggs
Since 2012 tormenting batteries are forbidden. But many companies in the EU member states have not made the switch to animal welfare forms. Therefore, so-called small group housing in "designed cages" is tolerated until 2020, which provides for a little more space, perches, nests and litter for the hens, but has nothing to do with species-appropriate livestock. Eggs from this production bear the "3" as the first digit in the stamp. Even ground keeping is not appropriate to the species (the stamp on the egg starts with "2"), here up to 6000 hens must share a stable. Only if they also have access to the outside (at least 4 square meters per animal), may speak of free-range attitude (recognizable by the "1" in the stamp).
What is better with organic? Organic laying hens do not have more spouts than conventional free-range hens, but they have special food that must be 85 percent organic. The chicken feed contains no dyes, growth promoters or genetically modified soya.
What to do? Advantage for organic eggs. But eggs from free-range chickens are almost as recommendable, apart from the fact that it remains in the dark whether the animals have eaten genetically modified soybeans. After all, the green fodder gives the eggs a high vitamin A content.
meat and sausage
Although meat and sausage contain no heavy metals or pesticide residues. But antibiotics often end up on our plates, with which the animals were treated. Wurst is often a cocktail of additives: dyes, flavor enhancers and preservatives. The apply in the quantities used as safe for health.
What is better with organic? The species-appropriate rearing. The animals often come from old animal breeds, are more robust and are first treated with natural remedies in case of illness. In the sausage come no flavor enhancers, phosphates or dyes. However, sausage is usually cured? treated with nitrite pickle salt to give it a fresh red color. This is restricted according to the EU Organic Regulation. Some organic farming associations make it, others like Demeter or GÄA do without it.
What to do? Buy meat and sausage from animals that are kept and fed in an appropriate way. This is guaranteed by the organic farmers. There are also very strict rules for new land, an association of conventionally working farmers. Meanwhile, smaller, regional producers offer very good quality? ask your butcher or butcher.
fish
Fish, raw or smoked, usually contains no pollutants. Exceptions: In richer species such as tuna and halibut, environmental toxins accumulate (mercury, dioxins, tributyltin). This is not an issue with one to two fish a week. Pregnant and small children should not eat these fish. However, the more important issues with fish today are overfishing and fishing methods. In this respect, especially eel, redfish, cod and swordfish are threatened.
What is better with organic? The fish is bred, but has plenty of space and eats organic food. Antibiotics are dispensed with. A reliable address is the eco-association Naturland. According to its guidelines, trout, salmon, shrimp, tilapia, pangasius, sea bass and sea bream are bred worldwide in aqua farms. Relatively new is the label "Naturland Wildfisch", which certifies sustainable fishing and abandonment of critical and environmentally harmful fishing methods.
What to do? The first choice is definitely organic fish. A good alternative is conventional fish with MSC seal (Marine Stewardship Council for fish from wild catch) or ASC seal (Aquaculture Stewardship Council for fish from aquaculture). These products are also recommended by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) in its purchasing guide Fisch. Little downer: The feed for farmed fish may be genetically modified.
honey
About 80 percent of the honey purchased in Germany comes from abroad. In imported honey from Central and South America may be residues of medicines and antibiotics. In addition, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were discovered during checks by Stiftung Warentest or Öko-Test. Honey of German origin (see label) must meet strict requirements. However, again and again traces of pollutants or impurities appear here.
What is better with organic? Overall, strict rules for beekeeping and honey quality apply. The bees build their own honeycomb and do not have to put the honey in artificial honeycomb.Mites that can affect the bee colonies are treated with formic acid instead of antibiotics. Beehives are usually located in the field of eco-fields. But since the animals have a large radius, it can not always be ruled out that they also take a detour to ecologically managed fields.
What to do? Organic is better, also for reasons of animal welfare.
baby food
For baby food (infant formula and complementary foods), particularly strict legal regulations apply with regard to the composition, use of additives, bacteriological requirements and limit values for residues and contaminants. For example, colorants, flavors and preservatives are prohibited. Nevertheless, mothers are buying more and more organic baby food, whose share has risen to over 40 percent.
What is better with organic? The basic products are from eco-production, contain less pollutants, more natural vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. One of the main problems with vegetables is nitrate (spinach, beetroot, kohlrabi and carrots are particularly affected), and bio is on the safe side.
What to do?When it comes to vegetable porridge, you can confidently resort to conventionally produced baby food. The jars almost always contain organic vegetables, otherwise manufacturers would not be able to meet the stringent nitrate requirements. Dairy products and meat are the same as adults? see the relevant keyword. In general, eco-products contain healthier fatty acids, more flavor and less artificial flavors? and that's where children can benefit.
Book tip: Organic from A - Z
Many of the above information comes from the guidebook: "The Bio-Food Handbook" by Udo Pini (H.F. Ullmann Publishing, 24.90 euros). 900 pages filled with everything you ever wanted to know about organic food and the organic cosmos? or should know. Reading-friendly thanks to alphabetical processing of "eels" to "Zygophyllaceen"? Mediterranean plants whose buds are valued as "wild capers".
