At this point most of us know that organic produce is grown without toxic pesticides. With that in mind, I always assumed that packaged organic food was basically the same as packaged conventional food, just made with organic ingredients.
Wow was I wrong. And while I always prefer fresh and whole foods to packaged ones, I now find that I have been nonetheless wildly underestimating organic packaged food (even if packaged food does come with packaging, which we also try to avoid as much as possible).
Unlike organic packaged foods, conventional packaged food contains thousands of poorly regulated food chemicals.
“Although many consumers choose organic to avoid toxic pesticides, few know that federal rules dramatically limit the use of synthetic substances in organic food,” says EWG nutritionist Dawn Undurraga, one of the authors of the report.
Here’s how it breaks down:
• 2,000+ chemical preservatives, colors and other chemicals are used in conventional packaged foods.
• Fewer than 40 synthetic ingredients are allowed in organic packaged foods.
And to top it all off, food manufacturers don’t need approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for many of the chemicals added to conventional packaged foods.
EWG explains that the things allowed for use in organic foods must be proven safe for consumption, and have no adverse impact on the environment. And they must be approved by government and independent experts every five years.