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Auburn, May 21, 2002 --- People who insist on eating only organically grown fruits and vegetables because they are tastier, more nutritious and safer than conventionally grown produce are probably wasting their time and their money.

A growing body of evidence reveals that organically grown products, which are supposedly free of pesticides and other farm-related chemicals, are no more tasty or nutritious than conventional products, and in many cases, may not be as safe.

Taste and nutritional content, for example, are affected by a number of factors, such as time of harvest, freshness and how long the produce is stored prior to purchase. One of the major advantages associated with conventionally grown produce, experts say, is that it has been treated with chemicals to prolong freshness and shelf life – practices that also preserve taste and nutritional content.

"Organically grown produce may be raised with a little more tender-loving care, but the taste and nutrient content are no better," says Dr. Jean Weese, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist. "And compared with conventional produce, an organic product’s taste and nutritional value is likely to be very short lived after it reaches the supermarket."

Even so, organically grown fruits and vegetables appeal to millions of consumers for the simple reason that they have been grown without using any pesticides, fungicides and related chemicals.

"So what if an organically product is a little less tastier or nutritious than other foods," supporters of organic foods argue, "at least it’s safer to eat."

It’s a message that has been driven home – apparently successfully -- to millions of consumers worldwide, a fact reflected by the massive growth of organic farming within the last decade. Worldwide, organic farming has grown into a $30-billion-a-year business, with an especially large following in Europe and Japan.

Still, despite all of the hype associated with organically grown produce, there is no guarantee the products you buy will be completely free of chemicals, Weese says.

"Chemical residues are all around us – in the ground, air and water," she says. "And even if produce was raised with zero fertilizer and pesticides, there still is a good chance that the products were exposed to these chemicals from rainfall and storm runoff, from winds carrying pesticide residues from miles away, or even from residues in the soil."

As an example of how chemicals can linger in the soil, Weese cites the persistence of Alar, a growth regulator that continued to show up in trace amounts in apples years after it was taken off the market.

"Many other farm chemicals do the same thing," she adds. "They’re in the soil – they’ve been there for a long time, though you think they’re completely gone."

Much of this soilborne residue is composed of organochlorine pesticides and chemicals, such as DDT and chlordane, that were banned years ago but that still linger.

Research has shown that as much as 23 percent of organic fruits and vegetables harbor chemical residues, compared with 75 percent of conventionally grown produce, though in virtually all cases, these residues were far below levels EPA considers dangerous.

There is yet is one other disadvantage associated with organic foods. In the absence of nitrogen fertilizers, organic producers often use animal manure instead – a factor that compromises safety by increasing the likelihood of exposure to pathogens such salmonella and E.coli O157:H7, both derived from animal waste. For a long time, many food scientists assumed that these pathogens were present only on the exterior of organically grown produce. More recently, however, studies have shown these pathogens actually can turn up inside the produce – a fact Weese has confirmed in her own research.

In a study conducted with tiny lettuce plants, she learned that potentially deadly E.coli pathogens from tainted soil can be taken up into the stem of the plants in a matter of only a few days after planting.

Despite these risks – and the best efforts of food scientists to put these issues into proper perspective -- millions of people remain terrified by the notion of chemical residues in food. To these frightened millions, Weese offers this consoling advice.

"I tell people that companies treat vegetables with chemicals for a reason, much as companies pasteurize milk for a very good reason," she says. "If there weren’t chemicals added to milk, there is a much stronger likelihood you would get sick from drinking milk."

"It’s the same with fruits and vegetables," she adds. "Without these chemical fertilizers, pesticides and preservatives, there’s a much greater likelihood you will get sick eating them."