Organic and Conventional Foods

Background and methodology
Considerable attention is being paid to organic farming. The authors reviewed, summarized and evaluated results from more than 150 investigations comparing the quality of conventionally and organically produced food. 

Findings
Cereals and cereal products did not show clear differences in heavy metal content between the products from various cultivation systems. One survey however observed that the cadmium content in malting barley was significantly higher in conventional cultivation than in samples from organic farming. There were no differences between the mineral and vitamin B contents of samples from both the conventional and organic cultivation. Organic vegetables had lower nitrate content, but no differences were observed in the mineral and trace elements contents of organic and conventional vegetables. Furthermore, there were no differences between organic and conventional vegetables regarding vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. There were no significant differences between grape must and wine from organic and conventional production in respect of the concentrations of desirable ingredients and parameters such as ethanol, sugar, total acid and extract. Apart from protein content, the beers did not show any differences in wort, ethanol, bitter agents, and fermentation by-products. Beer brewed with organically grown raw material has lower protein content.

Reference:
Woese, K., Lange, D., Boess, C. & Bögl, K. W. (1997). A comparison of organically and conventionally grown foods- Results of a review of the relevant literature. J Sci Food Agric 74:281-293.