A Load of Manure [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
A university study [3] comparing the amount of bacteria on conventionally-grown and organically-grown produce found that the level of the common bacteria E. coli on certified organic produce was "not statistically different from that in conventional samples." Alex Avery [4], of the right-wing Hudson Institute [5]'s project the Center for Global Food Issues [6], attacked the researchers for their pro-organic "bias" in an editorial posted on the USDA's Food Safety Research Information Office [7]'s website. Avery claims, "The concern about manure and bacterial contamination of organic foods was originally raised in 1997 by a physician with the Centers for Disease Control." That would be Dr. Robert Tauxe, who told the New York Times in August 2000, "The big question is how to properly compost manure ... but our concern applies to both organic and conventional farms."