What's the story with organic food?

The benefits of organic food have long been disputed, with advocates claiming that not only does it taste better, but it is better for you, and better for the environment. This, they claim makes its higher price - at least 20 per cent more expensive than non-organic food - more palatable.

For their part, disbelievers say that a huge question mark still hangs over organically grown foods, with some sceptics going so far as to suggest the whole concept is little more than a fad for people with more money than sense.

The organic movement received a significant boost at the end of last month with reports of a major study appearing to go some way towards proving that food grown to organic standards is more nutritious than food grown using chemicals and pesticides.

The news came from a 735-acre farm outside Newcastle, where a lengthy and detailed study of the nutritional value of organic foods has been underway for four years. The farm's pastures and fields have been carefully split to allow conventional and organic farming take place side by side, so that scientists can precisely test the physiology of the alternative foods.

The £12 million (€17.2m) European Union-funded project, co-ordinated by Newcastle University, has seen more than 30 academic centres across the EU analysing the farm's produce for compounds believed to boost health and combat disease. The trend so far shows that organic fruit, vegetables and milk are considerably more likely to have beneficial compounds.

The findings have yet to be peer reviewed - although that is planned - and the results will be published over the next year, but early conclusions indicate that up to 40 per cent more antioxidants and other beneficial compounds are to be found in vegetable crops, and up to 90 per cent more in milk.

"We have a general trend in the data that says there are more good things in organic food. We are now trying to identify the agricultural practices that are responsible for this," said Prof Carlo Leifert, the co-ordinator of the Quality Low Input Food project.

THE RESULTS OFthe study could have a significant impact on how organic food is viewed and could even see the Government stepping up its support of the sector. And increased support is needed to stop it from stagnating, according to lobby groups.

The Government has a target of 5 per cent of land to be certified as organic by 2012; it currently stands at just one per cent.

According to the Irish Organic Farmers' and Growers' Association, the target will not be reached unless the Government takes remedial action.

"The organic sector has progressed rapidly in other European countries while remaining stagnant here in Ireland. One obvious reason for this has been that investment in the sector has been relatively small," the group said in its pre-Budget submission.

It called for the setting up of an agency to drive development, "as existing structures have been inadequate and have not resulted in growth in the number of producers keeping pace with the demand for organic products".

Interest from consumers is certainly there. The per capita spend on organic food in the Republic has climbed from €29 per month in 2003 to €40 per month this year. The organic market is currently around €66 million - up from €38 million in 2003 - and it is estimated that it will grow to approximately €400 million over the next five years.

AS BEFITS Amember of the Irish Skeptics Society, Dr Con O'Rourke is unconvinced of either the health or taste benefits of organic food because, he says, such claims have never been backed up by any serious, peer-reviewed research. A former Teagasc plant research scientist, O'Rourke has also served as president of the Institute of Biology and chairman of the RDS science committee. He wrote an article for the Farmer's Journalwhich cast a cold eye on the sector and enraged the organic lobby.

O'Rourke wrote that there was no evidence that organic foods were more nutritious or tastier, and he pointed out that existing regulations ensured our food was safe to eat and the environment was protected. He claimed that paying significantly over the odds for organic produce seemed "neither justified nor sensible".

He is watching the developments in Newcastle with interest, and, while the published research has yet to change his mind about the nutritional benefits of organic food, he is open to persuasion.

"From an overall ecological perspective, people who shop organically may be doing the right thing," he says. "I don't believe it is worth it, personally, but if you feel that you are doing your bit for the environment and that it tastes better, then go for it. I am not against it, just a bit sceptical.

"They are slapping organic labels on everything these days and some of it is just nonsense."

The British Food Safety Authority says consumers may choose to buy organic food because they believe that it is safer and more nutritious than other food. "However, the balance of current scientific evidence does not support this view," is its official line.

Pat O'Mahony of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland concurs. He says that he does not see the FSAI's position changing in the wake of the research coming out of the Newcastle project. "It really is a lifestyle choice. There is no bad food and no good food, but the key is a balanced diet."