Milk, organic or not organic?

By 19. February 2016Blog, Health, Nutrition

That is indeed the question this week. There has been fierce debate for many years over whether or not organic is better for you, in terms of less pesticide residue obviously but also in terms of the nutritional content of the food.

Published in the British Journal of Nutrition is the latest offering on the subject, looking at the nutritional content of organic milk compared to normal.

They found that although there were no differences in the levels of total saturated fatty acids or monounsaturated fatty acids, organic milk had higher levels of poly-unsaturated fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids. But on the down side, they found that it had less iodine and selenium.

The lower iodine is not surprising, we blogged about this phenomenon back in 2013 (Organic milk leaving you in need?). It is higher in conventionally produced milk due to the cows receiving iodine supplementation.

Regarding the omega 3 findings, in the paper they talk about increases of over 50%, but expert reaction to the paper says that actually that is the increase found in just the milk fat.

If you calculate how much more is found in the milk as a whole you are only talking a few percent.

So there you have it, there are clear differences in the nutritional content of organic compared to conventional milk. But is it better for you than conventionally produced milk? I think that very much depends on who you ask.

Click here to read more

Click here to read the expert reaction to the paper.