Agency Response to Soil Association Report

Tuesday 7 August 2001

The Agency welcomes the publication of the Soil Association Report 'Organic farming, food quality and human health', which was published on 7 August 2001. We have considered the points made in the report and, taken overall, it does not in our view make the case that there is a significant difference between organic and conventionally produced food in terms of safety or nutritional content.

Therefore, we are not persuaded to change our position on organic food, which is that there is not enough information to say that organic food is significantly different in terms of food safety and nutrition from conventional food. But the Agency will be considering how consumer choice between organic and conventional food could be further informed by research, and we will be holding a seminar later this year with all interested parties, including the Soil Association, to discuss this.