Letter in the Des Moins Register.
In her response to former Agriculture Secretary John Block's column ("Tell the Truth About Organic," Oct. 10), Lauren Batcha of the Organic Trade Association never refutes Secretary Block's central point: Organic foods are four to eight times more likely to be recalled for safety concerns than the market average (see "Consumers Are Misled About Organic Safety," Oct. 7).
As the authors of the Academics Review report from which Secretary Block drew his numbers, we would like to clarify some of the points Batcha appears to have confused. The data on which the study was based are right there on the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control Webpages listing food recalls. Unfortunately, these Webpages don't identify which recalled products are organic. We researched over 600 recalls and determined whether they were organic or conventional products. In light of the claims of safety made by organic marketers, we were astounded at the high rate of organic recalls.
Batcha quotes an unnamed FDA official who says the agency "is not aware of the study." Perhaps that is part of the problem. If FDA paid more attention to the disproportionate safety risks of organic foods, they might be less inclined to allow the organic industry's continued marketing using spurious health claims — while simultaneously raising non-scientific and unfounded fears about conventional foods.
— Bruce M. Chassy, professor emeritus of food safety and nutritional sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,[Priest River, Ida]; David E. Tribe,..., lecturer in food safety and biotechnology, University of Melbourne
@ Criticism of Block's column is off base:
As the authors of the Academics Review report from which Secretary Block drew his numbers, we would like to clarify some of the points Batcha appears to have confused. The data on which the study was based are right there on the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control Webpages listing food recalls. Unfortunately, these Webpages don't identify which recalled products are organic. We researched over 600 recalls and determined whether they were organic or conventional products. In light of the claims of safety made by organic marketers, we were astounded at the high rate of organic recalls.
Batcha quotes an unnamed FDA official who says the agency "is not aware of the study." Perhaps that is part of the problem. If FDA paid more attention to the disproportionate safety risks of organic foods, they might be less inclined to allow the organic industry's continued marketing using spurious health claims — while simultaneously raising non-scientific and unfounded fears about conventional foods.
— Bruce M. Chassy, professor emeritus of food safety and nutritional sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,[Priest River, Ida]; David E. Tribe,..., lecturer in food safety and biotechnology, University of Melbourne
@ Criticism of Block's column is off base:
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