What is ‘organic’?
Eating organic can be a great thing. If you are getting proper, certified organic foods like fresh fruits and veggies, it means that no nasty synthetic chemical pesticides or fertilisers were used to grow the foods, and you don’t end up with all those chemicals in your body. In the same way, organic meats and other animal products are animals that have been raised and fed only organic feed, and have not been given antibiotics, hormones, steroids and other chemicals, they are also raised humanely – free range rather than caged. Organics is not just chemical-free, it’s a whole system of growing and handling food, it includes the soil, plants, animals and food products, and also uses sustainable practice to benefit the environment. Organic farming also prohibits genetic engineering and modification.
Organic calories still count
So as you can see, there are many benefits to choosing organic foods. However one mistake people make is thinking that just because it’s organic, it becomes healthy. This is simply not the case. While organic full cream milk, bread, butter, cheese and chocolate are better for you in the sense that they contain no chemicals, they still contain equal amounts of saturated fats, sugar and number of calories as their non-organic counterparts.
Compare a block of organic milk chocolate to Cadbury milk chocolate
| Green and Blacks Organic milk chocolate | Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate | |
| Quantity per 100g |  |
 |
| Energy | 545 | 530 |
| Saturated fat | 19 | 18.5 |
| Sugar | 47.9 | 56 |
Choose wisely
This doesn’t mean that you should throw your organic treats out the window, it simply means you need to treat your organic ‘junk food’ the same way you would treat any other ‘junk food’. Just because it’s organic, doesn’t make it healthy. Choose treats wisely, eat in moderation as part of a balanced diet, and always ready your labels.
NOTE: Be careful. Food companies are aware that consumers like organic products, and have used this to their advantage. There is currently very little regulation on the words ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ being on a food label. Unless it’s CERTIFIED organic by one of the recognised certifying agencies, it may not really be organic.
