To Your Health

Q. I eat organic foods as much as I can, especially fresh summer fruits such as strawberries, peaches, apricots, and plums. Are they worth the extra expense? When organic varieties are too pricey or out of season, is there any way to minimize the risks besides just rinsing and peeling?

A. We live in a world of chemicals, many capable of causing serious disease, and ignoring this "fact of life" is no longer defensible. The present concern is that people are exposed not to a single chemical but to innumerable chemicals in a "cocktail" as crops are treated with many different pesticides. The effect of these pesticides over the course of a lifetime is unknown.

The debate over whether organically grown foods contain fewer pesticides than conventionally raised foods was settled last year in a study published in Food Additives and Contaminants for May 8, 2002. Reviewing data from three different sources (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Consumer's Union, and the state of California) on 94,000 food samples, researchers concluded that organically grown fruits and vegetables were much less likely to contain any pesticide residue.

Bear in mind that "organically grown" is not the same as "pesticide-free." There are many factors beyond the control of the organic farmer such as pesticide spray drift from adjacent fields or irrigation-water contamination that can leave detectable pesticide residues. Also, organic farmers are allowed to use certain pesticides that are derived from botanical and mineral sources, even though some are quite toxic. Nicotine, for example, is one of the most toxic. However, it breaks down quickly, and so it is legal to use on organically grown crops.

Some pesticides stay mainly on the surface of the plants on which they are sprayed. Because they reside on the skin, you may be able to remove a fair proportion by washing the fruit and/or vegetable and most (but not all) by peeling. Others are "systemic" and designed to be taken up into the plant tissues. Washing and peeling will not significantly reduce residues of these. When you cannot find organic produce, wash ordinary produce in 2% hydrogen peroxide to neutralize some of the pesticide residue.

Pesticide residues will show up in any food at some time, whether organically grown or not. Some crops (garlic, cabbage, corn, turnips) seem less likely to contain pesticide residues, while residues consistently show up in others (apples, oranges, grapes, pears, strawberries, carrots, celery, and lettuce). If you would like to get an idea of how often a particular pesticide is found in a specific fruit go to www.foodnews.org/fruitsalad.php and prepare a "virtual fruit salad." The program will pick samples from both conventional and organic produce and tell you what pesticides were detected. You can do this several times and obtain several random samplings of the same fruits.

Despite the expense of organic foods, reflecting more labor-intensive farming methods, demand for organic products is rising and now drives a $22 billion-a-year U.S. market.

Results of a recent, carefully controlled study published in Nature (April 2001) show that organically grown apples were sweeter and firmer than apples grown in conventional orchards with farm chemicals. By "buying organic" you help yourself, the environment, and idealistic farmers who are trying to do the right thing.