Is it safer to eat organic spinach … or peaches or apples? EN weighs in

Last October, spinach tainted with E. coli O157:H7 sickened more than 200 people and caused three deaths in 26 states. This was only the latest in a string of foodborne illnesses traced to fresh fruits and vegetables. In the past few years, contamination has also affected conventionally grown tomatoes, green onions, raspberries and cantaloupe.

This outbreak was particularly disturbing, however, because it involved triple-washed, bagged spinach, a product you might assume is cleaner than unpackaged produce and that's often eaten raw. Plus, this spinach was grown on land leased by an organic food company, Mission Organics, and was packaged by Natural Selections Foods, the largest fresh produce company in the country and a leader in the organic industry (Earthbound Farms is its primary brand).

Consumers have been buying organic increasingly, perhaps in the belief that there's less risk of tainted produce to make them sick. But in light of this recent outbreak, is that the case? Here, EN weighs in on the crisis of confidence. Pathogens Pitted Against Produce. Foodborne illness used to be the domain of protein-rich foods like eggs, meat, seafood and poultry, but lately fruits and vegetables have been harboring some of those same disease-causing microbes. And organic produce is not immune.

"We have no evidence from our national surveillance systems that foodborne diseases are a greater or lesser risk in organic food," says a spokesperson at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Well-accepted food manufacturing and agricultural safety practices apply to all food growers, processors and distributors, both organic and conventional. "But problems in the system can happen to anyone," says Jim Gorny, senior vice president for food safety and technology at the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association.

Case in point: The spinach that sickened 200 people last fall was grown on a transitional" plot of land that was in the process of becoming a certified organic farm. Although not "organically grown," the spinach was the next best thing.

While officials haven't pinpointed how the contamination occurred, they suspect the same multiple sources that often present problems, such as infected wildlife, infected livestock and unsanitary water, perhaps tainted by runoff miles away. These are all equal opportunity safety concerns that could occur on both organic and nonorganic farms.

As John Krakowski, M.A., R.D., a food safety expert in Flanders, New York, so delicately puts it, "Fruits and vegetables are grown in nature's bathroom." In other words, birds, deer and the occasional wild pig find a farmed field--organic or not--just as convenient as a wild meadow for doing their business. Also, leafy greens and other fruits and vegetables (organic or not) often grow close to the ground, where bacteria reside, making them particularly vulnerable to contamination from the soil.

Could Organic Be Worse? Some critics charge organic produce is actually more likely to be contaminated because organic farmers use manure as fertilizer and manure is a documented source of E. coli. But that argument doesn't hold up, say experts, because both conventional and organic farmers use manure.

Certified organic farmers usually use compost, manure that is aged and heat-treated in a process that must follow strict organic procedures set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If raw manure is used, it must be applied no less than 120 days before harvest, as most disease-causing bacteria will die out during that time. Ironically, conventional farms don't have to follow these same rules.

The reality is that there is always the possibility of contamination by human hands, no matter how clean a farm is. This is multiplied for cut-up fruits and vegetables, which are handled more than whole produce, whether organic or nonorganic.

What About Pesticides? While choosing organically grown produce may not guarantee protection from bugs like E. coli and Salmonella, it is still probably safer than conventionally grown produce. That's because organic produce is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals, including fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides.

In conventional farming, synthetic chemicals like pesticides leave residues behind on fruits and vegetables. Little is known about the effects these low-level residues might have on human health. Even less is known about long-term exposure to low levels of a combination of pesticides (more typical of what you get when eating produce), but experts recommend limiting exposure as much as possible. Buying organic produce can minimize, but not eliminate, this risk.

Small amounts of pesticide residues are unavoidable, even on organic crops. Wind or water can spread pesticides, and some persist in the soil for years and are taken up by plants long after the land has been certified organic.

When Organic Pays Off. Because organic produce is more expensive than conventionally grown, it's important to know when it pays to be picky (see "Spending Your Organic Dollars").