Organic food is better for human health, as well as for the ecosystem(soils and water, atmosphere and global warming, biodiversity and animal welfare). Proving this once again is a scientific study, from the University of Gratz (Austria). Where the clear superiority of the microbiota of the organic apple over the conventional apple is shown.
Organic is better for health, the voice of science
Scientific studies published in prestigious international journals with high Impact Factor highlight the superiority of organic foods, compared with products obtained by conventional agricultural methods. (1) With regard specifically to nutritional values, as well as the presence and amount of phytocompounds to which science attributes health-beneficial properties. (2)
The British Journal of Nutrition published in 2014 a meta-analysis where researchers at Newcastle University-as a result of scientific review of 343 studies submitted to peer review – conclude that organically grown fruits, vegetables and grains contain an average of 17 percent more antioxidants than those from conventional agriculture. Up to 69% more in the case of flavones. (3)
CRA-INRAN had in turn conducted the systematic review of 65 scientific studies, in 2012. (4) Noting, again, how organic products have similar or higher values–compared to the corresponding matrices from conventional agriculture–of nutrients and other beneficial substances. Such as carotenoids, antioxidants, phenols. The table below summarizes the results of the analysis.

On the opposite side are the detractors of organic, or rather the advocates-not always without interest (5)-of the use of ‘pesticides,’ or agrotoxics in agriculture. And of GMOs, old and new, which just so happens to be in almost all cases designed precisely to enable genetically modified organisms to resist chemical bombardment. With those poisonous pesticides and herbicides (e.g., glyphosate) that exterminate all life, including off-target ones like bees. It also causes a dangerous ‘drift effect‘ on the entire ecosystem.
The time for BIO apples, the Austrian study
The study An Apple a Day: Which Bacteria Do We Eat With Organic and Conventional Apples? – published 7/24/19 in Frontiers in Microbiology-was conducted by researchers at the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Graz, Austria. (6) Who compared apples of the ‘Arlet’ variety grown according to two methods that, with different levels of effectiveness, are presented under the umbrella of ‘sustainable agriculture:
– Organic apples, made in accordance with current European rules,
– Apples from ‘integrated farming’. In application of the relevant international standard GLOBALG.A.P., in its Austrian declination (AMAG.A.P. Certification).
The investigation conducted by Austrian researchers went beyond a simple analysis of nutrients, micronutrients and health-promoting substances. Instead, the identity of the microbiota-that is, the population of fungi and bacteria-was explored in the different components of the fruits under examination. Noting how organic produce has a significantly more diverse microbiota, compared to conventional produce. Identifying, in the organic product, a greater variety of microorganisms with peculiar occurrence of those with probiotic effect (Lactobacilli) or with positive effects on the aromatic component of the fruit (methylobacterium). A recent meta-analysis, moreover, even showed how a higher intake of probiotics can help boost immunity to the point of reducing the need for antibiotics.
The richness of the populations of microorganisms in organic products–compared with conventional ones–finds brilliant expression in the image below, taken from the article cited above. Where it is shown how precisely the organic apple represents a ‘rainbow of life’. And this is precisely the confirmation of the ‘biodiversity’ that the organic production method pursues, with success proven by science.

Figure: Taxonomic composition of the microbiota present on organic and ‘integrated control’ apple tissues
Partial conclusions
Organic is better, for the ecosystem and health. It is not our ambition to cultivate sterile debates with agbiotech lobbyists and their cohorts. The substantial differences between organic and conventional products may sometimes not be obvious, and the investigation of the role of the microbiome in health is still all in its infancy. The focal question is another, how to actually pursue concrete environmental sustainability goals in a historical period where the ecological crisis is identified-along with obesity and malnutrition-as a major driver of the
Global Syndemic
underway.
The organic method is ‘based on the interaction between best practices in environment and climate action, a high level of biodiversity, and fulfilling a social function by providing the public with goods that contribute to environmental protection.’ (7)
Agroecology could save Europe in a decade or so, as the recent IDDRI(Institut pour le Développement Durable et les Relations Internationales) study showed. The conversion of European agriculture to the organic method is possible and of definite benefit, including to farmers whom the ‘green revolution’ has instead drastically impoverished, increasing dependence on agrochemicals and related costs without, however, allowing for a corresponding increase in commodity prices. The era of synthetic pesticides is close to collapse, and the deregulation of NBTs(NewBreeding Techniques, aka new GMOs) must be prevented. Precisely to prevent the release of alien genetic varieties into the environment from creating new dependencies on dangerous agrotoxics.
Dario Dongo and Donato Ferrucci
Notes
(1) The so-called Impact Factor is a bibliometric index developed by theInstitute for Scientific Information (ISI) in 1961. It measures the average number of citations received, in the reference year, by articles published by a scientific journal in the previous two years: it is therefore an indicator of the performance of scientific periodicals, expressing the impact of a publication on the relevant scientific community.
TheImpact Factor of a journal does not express a value in itself, but should be considered in comparison to the values achieved by journals in the same subject area(subject category in Journal Citation Reports), since each community is characterized by specific citation behavior.
(2) The scientific evidence and substantiation of the human health benefits associated with the consumption of a food or substance in it, or a category of foods, it should be noted, does not in itself entail the possibility of claiming the relevant health claim In labeling and advertising of related products. In fact, the use of health-related claims depends on the activation by the operators concerned of an onerous European authorization procedure under Reg. EC 1924/06 et seq.(Nutrition & Health Claims, NHC).
As a result-partly due to the starvation of supply chain operators and their representations, in Italy and in Europe-the list of authorized health claims in the EU is still devoid of references to substances whose health-promoting effects are concluded by science. Such as lycopene, oleic acid, antioxidants (outside of those found in extra virgin olive oil alone), polyphenols and phenolic compounds, prebiotics and probiotics, CBD
(3) Barański M, et al. (2014). Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses. Br J Nutr. 2014, Sep 14;112(5):794-811. doi: 10.1017/S0007114514001366. Epub 2014 Jun 26., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24968103
(4) Flavio Paoletti, Stefano Nicoli, Irene Baiamonte, Nicoletta Nardo. The nutritional quality of organic farming products. Results of a literature survey (2005-2011). Council for Research and Experimentation in Agriculture (CRA, formerly the National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition, INRAN)
(5) Glenn David Stones (2017). Dreading CRISPR: GMOs, Honest Brokers, And Mertonian Transgressions. Geographical Review, Volume 107, Issue 4. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gere.12260
(6) Brigit Wassermann et al. (2019). An Apple a Day: Which Bacteria Do We Eat With Organic and Conventional Apples? Front. Microbiol., July 24, 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01629, at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01629/full
(7) Reg (EU) 2018/848, on organic production and labeling of organic products, first recital
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Agronomist, master in food law. He deals with certifications and quality systems in the agri-food chain. He collaborates with institutions and universities and is a member of the editorial board of rivistadiagraria.org.
