Recalls for organic foods are on the rise.
The
word “organic” has all kinds of connotations: healthier, cleaner,
better for the environment. In fact, 71 percent of people in a 2011 University of Arkansas study
said they believe organic foods are safer than conventional ones, while
11 percent of folks were specifically concerned about the potential for
bacterial contamination in conventionally grown foods. “The consumer
sees organic as everything that is good,” says Francisco Diez-Gonzalez,
PhD, head of the department of food science and nutrition at the
University of Minnesota.
Yet, despite this reputation, there’s been a sharp jump in the number of recalls of organic food, according to a new report by Stericycle,
a company that helps businesses handle recalls. So far in 2015, 7
percent of all recalled foods have been organic, the report’s analysis
of USDA and FDA data reveals. In 2012 and 2013, just 1 percent of
recalls were for organic foods.
Although
recalls can occur for a handful of reasons — including mislabeling and
the discovery of a potential allergen in a product — bacterial
contamination is the one that tends to freak us out most. And,
unfortunately, organic foods aren’t just being recalled for the more
benign reasons: In March, for example, Amy’s Kitchen voluntarily recalled nearly 74,000 cases of organic spinach due to possible Listeria contamination. And the same month, Wegmans recalled its organic walnuts, citing potential Salmonella contamination as the reason.
Why
the uptick in organic recalls? Stericycle has speculated that the
increased demand for organic ingredients may be partly to blame — we’re
eating more of it, so naturally, more recalls would follow. “That’s
true,” says Lawrence Goodridge, PhD, director of the Food Safety &
Quality Program at McGill University, “but it’s more nuanced than that.”
As the demand for organic produce has skyrocketed, organic farms have
gone from small-scale operations to super-farms. “If that produce [grown
at large farms] gets contaminated, it’s spread all over the country,”
he explains. That means the grower is more likely to issue a recall,
bringing national attention to the issue.
But,
size aside, are organic farming practices generally filthier? Might the
decreased reliance on pesticides — which ward off insects and the
bacteria they bring with them — mean an increased odds of contamination?
Organic
farms do use manure as fertilizer, so it might seem obvious that the
produce they grow would pose a greater risk of food-borne illness than
conventional fruits and vegetables. But the research doesn’t necessarily
bear that out: A 2012 research review in the Annals of Internal Medicine, which analyzed more than 200 studies, concluded that E. coli
contamination was equally likely to affect organic as it did
conventional produce. (Likewise, bacterial contamination of chicken and
pork was unrelated to farming method.)
Generally
speaking, “there’s no real difference between organic and conventional,
with respect to safety,” Goodridge tells Yahoo Health. Diez-Gonzalez
echoes this sentiment.
Related: What is Organic Farming, Really?
Yet
there are studies out there suggesting that organic food is actually
more prone to bacterial contamination. For example, in a 2015 study of produce from California farmers’ markets, the vegetables sold by organic farmers were twice as likely to be laced with Salmonella than those sold by conventional farmers.
What’s
going on? If manure is properly composted — the temperature is
monitored, the pile is regularly turned — there won’t be dangerous
microbes in the mix, says Goodridge. “But if it’s not composted
properly, then there is a risk that bacteria will be spread to the
produce. The larger, commercial farms, of course, understand the
importance of composting. But many people who grow produce in their
backyards or on small mom-and-pop farms may not compost manure properly.
I see that all the time. Then, they’re essentially spreading raw manure
onto that produce. That’s what can lead to contamination.” In a University of Minnesota
study, organic produce fertilized with manure that had been aged for
just six to 12 months was 19 times more likely to be contaminated with E. coli than produce from farms that used older compost.
Taken from Yahoo Health
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