By Gemma Charles, marketingmagazine.co.uk, 29 July 2009, 4:15pm

Organic produce 'no different' to other food, claims FSA report

LONDON - Organic food has no important differences in nutrition content or any additional health benefits when compared with conventionally produced food, according to an independent review commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The report will come as a blow to the organic food market, which is already experiencing slowing sales due to the recession.

The study, which took the form of a 'systematic review of literature', was carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Its team reviewed all academic papers published over the past 50 years that related to the nutrient content and health differences between organically and conventionally produced food. The FSA claims the review is the most comprehensive study in this area that has been carried out to date.

Gill Fine, FSA director of consumer choice and dietary health, said: 'This study does not mean that people should not eat organic food. What it shows is that there is little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced food and that there is no evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food.'