Organic produce 'is an area for food hygiene professionals to discuss'

Food hygiene professionals should urge people to think about their reasons for buying organic produce, it has been claimed.

Dr Carina Norris, nutrition consultant, said people buy organic for a number of reasons, such as not wanting artificial preservatives or chemicals to be used in the manufacture of products, or to support farmers who have an organic mindset and are more generous and caring for their animals.

She commented: "If those kind of things are important to you, then certainly organic is worth it. If they are really not important to you, then you will be wasting your money buying organic."

According to research carried out by Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, in a blind taste test to determine the organic 'halo effect', two identical products were marked organic and regular and participants were asked to rank their flavour.

Invariably, the product marked organic was shown to get a better response, despite the fact the two products were the same.