tailieunhanh - Initial Reflections on the Annals of Internal Medicine Paper “Are Organic Foods Safer and Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives? A Systematic Review”'

Despite expectations born a decade ago, there are only a few successes in stratified medicine up to now and its implementation proves to be challenging in many aspects. Numerous factors are considered in making decisions. Indeed the pharmaceutical sector becomes increasingly aware of the potential benefits of stratified medicine but it seems inhibited by uncertainties. In addition to the above mentioned obstacles in research, the regulatory framework, intellectual property issues, the uncertain impact on the market and doubtful commercial advantages contribute to create an unclear landscape that seems to prevent the main stakeholders to clearly move forward. . | September 4 2012 Initial Reflections on the Annals of Internal Medicine Paper Are Organic Foods Safer and Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives A Systematic Review By Charles Benbrook Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources Washington State University Overview In a comprehensive paper published in the September 4 2012 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine Smith-Spangler et al. Vol. 157 Number 5 pages 349-369 a Stanford University Medical School team surveys the global literature for evidence of differences between the nutritional quality and safety of organic and conventional foods. The team s two major conclusions are that The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The analysis supporting these conclusions is flawed in several ways. The basic indicators used to compare the nutritional quality and safety of organic versus conventional food consistently understate the magnitude of the differences reported in high-quality contemporary peer-reviewed literature. In the case of pesticides and antibiotics the indicator used the percent of samples of organic food with a trait minus the percent of conventional samples affected is not a valid indicator of human health risk. In its analysis the team does not tap extensive high quality data from the USDA and Environmental Protection Agency EPA on pesticide residue levels USDA Pesticide Data Program 2012 toxicity and dietary risk Office of Inspector General 2006 a and 2006b Benbrook 2011a Benbrook 2008b as well as a persuasive body of literature on the role of agricultural antibiotic use in triggering the creation of new antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria and the genes conferring resistance Looft et al. 2012 . The team s answer to the basic question Is organic food more nutritious or safer is based on their .