Professor Samman also said, Some health professionals believe that organic foods have more nutrients and elicit favourable effects on healthThis advice is given despite the lack of scientific evidence to support it. More fruits and vegetables are the need of the day in diet he said. The really important thing for consumers is that they continue to consume fruits and vegetables regardless of the source, because this is going to bring about health benefitsIf you only eat one organic apple because that ™s all you can afford, instead of having two conventional apples, surely you ™re better off having two, he added.

There are further issues about damaging the environment with conventional farming. Professor Samman refutes that by saying, The more that the organic supply increases, the more likely it is to be detrimental to the environment in a sense, because we have to get the food transported to the cities, we have to get it mass produced and we have to use some of the equipment that conventional farming uses.

The Cornell University Food and Brand Lab also conducted a similar experiment by randomly assigning 54 college students to try out cookies that were labelled organic or had no label. There was organic flour and sugar in both types of cookies. After the test the participants were given questionnaires regarding their understanding and preference for organic foods and also their awareness towards protection of the environment.

The results were surprising. The group that had organic labeled cookies thought that they had 40 percent lesser calories than unlabelled ones. They claimed that organic cookies had more fiber content than the other. These students were the ones who buy organic foods more often. On the other hand those who led a more out door life and believed in exercising for health claimed that organic cookies did not taste natural.

According to study co-author Brian Wansink just the label could give a health halo to the cookies. He said, It's the same basic reason people tend to overeat any snack food that's labeled as healthy or low fat. They underestimate the calories and over-reward themselves by eating more. This study was presented at the recent Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim.