Physical Wellness

New Method Could Authenticate Organic Produce

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Aug 28, 2014 10:37 PM EDT

How do you know you're vegetables are actually organic? According to experts, fake organic food really does exist. However, scientists studying conventional and organic tomatoes are trying to come up with a new way to make sure farms are labeling their produce appropriately.

Researchers from the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority and the Wuerzburg University said that the global market value of organic food nearly tripled between 2002 and 2011, when it was valued at $62.8 billion.

Researchers are worried about organic food fraud because the price of organic produce is generally double that of conventional produce.

Despite the complications of developing methods of analyzing the authenticity of organic produce, lead researcher Monika Hohmann and her colleagues were determined to find a newer, more efficient way of determining organic authenticity. Currently, the most reliable authentication method analyzes the stable isotope composition of nitrogen. However, the test is not foolproof, according to researchers.

Hohmann and her team decided to explore a technique called nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which has been used to verify organic honey and olive oil. For the latest study, Hohmann and her team used the technique to analyze tomatoes grown in greenhouses and outdoors, with conventional or organic fertilizers.

The findings revealed that analysis revealed significant differences between of organic and conventional produce

Researchers said the latest findings suggest that nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a good method to determine organic produce.

The findings are published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

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