Organic food has a higher nutritional value than ordinary
produce, a study by Newcastle University has found. The UK's
organic food sector is worth £1.9bn A team grew fruit,
vegetables and reared cattle on adjacent organic and non-organic
sites across Europe. They found up to 40% more antioxidants
could be found in organic fruit and vegetables than in non-
organic. The team said the findings call into question the
current stance of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is
neither for nor against organic food. The four-year "Quality Low
Input Food" project, funded by a £12m European Union grant,
found a general trend, showing that organic food contained "less
of the baddies" than conventional produce. Part of the research
was carried out on a 725-acre farm in the Tyne valley, which is
attached to Newcastle University, where the team systematically
investigated produce from the two farming techniques. Project
co-ordinator Prof Carlo Leifert, said: "We have shown there are
more of certain nutritionally desirable