Organic Eggs, Milk, Meat, and Fish: Are You Getting What You Pay For?
Organic Eggs, Milk, Meat, and Fish: Are You Getting What You Pay For?
Organic vs. Conventional Animal Products: Uncover the real differences in nutrition and ethics to make informed choices for your plate.
In today's complex world of diet wars and nutrition politics, the debate between organic and conventional food is more heated than ever. We've previously explored the differences between organic and conventional produce, analyzing whether the organic label is truly worth the investment.
Now, we turn our focus to animal products with a comprehensive comparison of organic and non-organic. From nutritional differences to hormones, antibiotics, and ethics, this article will cut through the noise to help you make informed decisions about what ends up in your shopping cart and on your plate.
What does the science really say amid the noise of marketing buzzwords and counterclaims? Let's take a look at several different organic animal foods and compare them to conventional counterparts.
Eggs: Upgrading Nature's Multivitamin
Some may argue that organic eggs aren't worth the price tag. But no one can argue that they aren't any different: organic eggs come from cage-free chickens that have been fed organic food and provided outdoor space to move around freely. Organic eggs are generally lower in environmental contaminants and higher in nutrients.
Organic eggs may contain more than double the omega-3 fatty acids found in conventional eggs and less omega-6 fatty acids compared to conventional eggs. This may be why people who eat organic eggs tend to have significantly lower systemic inflammation than people who eat conventional eggs.
The vitamin D content in organic eggs is another significant point of distinction. Organically raised hens, with their mandated outdoor access, synthesize vitamin D3 in their skin when exposed to sunlight, much like humans do. This results in egg yolks with up to four times more vitamin D than conventional eggs. It's a perfect example of how farming practices can directly influence nutrient composition at a molecular level. Organic pastured eggs may also have higher levels of other nutrients, such as vitamins A and E.
Milk: Big Fat Discrepancies
Compared to conventional milk, organic milk typically contains higher levels of several essential omega-3s, including α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA). These long-chain fatty acids are associated with various health benefits, including reduced inflammation and improved cardiovascular health. The higher levels are directly linked to the grass-based diet of organic cows, as these fatty acids are abundant in grazing-based diets.
Organic milk also boasts higher concentrations of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a beneficial omega-6 fat that fights cancer and heart disease while improving immune function.
Interestingly, several minerals, including copper, zinc, selenium, and iodine, are more abundant in conventional milk. This is because conventional dairy cows are fed nutritional concentrates, while organic grazing cows depend on minerals coming from the soil, which are often deficient by comparison. However, vitamins E and A, rich in grass and legumes, are consistently higher in organic milk.
Organic milk can even have a longer shelf life than conventional milk because it's routinely subjected to significantly higher pasteurization temperatures.
Meat: Cows Are What They Eat
Whether we eat grass-fed meat from small family-owned farms or grain-fed meat from large commercial operations, we can count on it to provide concentrated sources of protein and a variety of nutrients that are not always abundant in strict plant-based diets, such as B12 and iron. Nevertheless, there are meaningful differences between organic and conventional meat that shouldn't be dismissed.
Organic meat of various types, including lamb, beef, goat, poultry, and pork, tends to be lower in saturated fat and higher in both omega 3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, owing directly to the food these animals graze and forage. However, they also have improved omega 3:6 ratios. In grass-fed and grass-finished scenarios, quantities of omega-3 fats (and the 3:6 ratio) improve even more.
While scientific head-to-head comparisons of vitamin and mineral content in organic and conventional meat still need improvement, much attention has been placed on grass-fed vs grain-fed animals. Grass-fed beef consistently contains more beneficial vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients. Meat from happily grazing cows can even offer 500 per cent more of the anti-carcinogenic and anti-atherosclerotic conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).
Seafood: Murky Waters
It's tempting to project what we know, or how we feel, about products from organically raised land animals onto aquatic creatures, but they are- somewhat literally- worlds apart.
As with land animals, organic fish are provided with organic food, and additional care is given to their behavioural needs and ecological sustainability. However, remarkably little is known about how this translates into toxic contaminants or nutritional differences at the consumer level. Studies that have been done show slightly higher omega-3 content in organic fish compared to conventional versions, but overall differences between the two appear pretty negligible.
Beyond organic/conventional comparisons, shoppers and scientists alike pay more attention to the differences between farmed and wild-caught fish. In the case of wild-caught seafood, there is no way of controlling (or even knowing) what it eats, and hence, organic standards can't really apply.
Wild-caught fish are a double-edged sword, potentially higher in essential minerals but also in contaminants like dioxins and mercury. In fact, while wild-caught fish is generally more sought after by consumers, some studies show that farmed fish with clean environments and well-controlled diets can be even more nutritious and concentrated with healthy fats than wild-caught fish.
The Hormone Conundrum
Generally speaking, the use of hormones in animal production has no significant impact on human health. However, this observation has exceptions, such as in countries where regulatory oversight is lacking.
Another important exception is recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST): this synthetic hormone increases milk production by stimulating the production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in cows. A 2003 meta-analysis in the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research found that rBST-treated cows did have an increase in milk yield. Still, they also had a much higher risk of developing mastitis and other adverse health conditions.
A more recent 2024 meta-analysis also confirmed that the milk and meat from these cows tend to contain higher levels of insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1 and IGF-2), other hormones with potential implications for human cancer development that are still being debated in the scientific community.
The use of rBST represents a significant difference between conventional American and Canadian milk: while its use has been banned for decades in Canada, the European Union, Australia, and Japan, it is still allowed in the USA. In Canada, beef cattle are the only animals that can legally receive any growth hormones at all, and all dairy cows are raised without hormones.
Antibiotic Anxiety
Thankfully, even in conventional animal products, fears of antibiotic contamination are largely ungrounded. The flip side of this reassurance is that animal products that are not certified organic but claim to be 'antibiotic-free' may offer more empty marketing hype than substance.
Meat and dairy products are rigorously tested for antibiotic residues, and few of them have ever shown excessive levels. If dairy cows are treated with antibiotics for health issues, their milk can not be used. Regardless, there is no objective evidence that trace amounts of antibiotics in animal products have ever negatively impacted human health.
Since antibiotics aren't used on organic animals, their meat may actually have a generally higher risk of bacterial contamination. However, conventional meat is at a heightened risk of contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can be a real issue - especially in conventional pork. Either way, cooking meat thoroughly is the surefire antidote.
Animal Welfare: The Unlisted Ingredient
For many of us, shopping for organic animal products has as much to do with the wellbeing of the animal as it does with nutrition or quality. The organic label conjures images of happy cows grazing freely as nature intended. At the very least, we assume they ought to be enjoying better circumstances than their industrially raised cousins. But is this accurate?
The short answer is yes. The rules of organic certification have important implications not just for what chickens, cows, and pigs are fed but also for how much living space they are allotted, how they are transported, and how much natural light and outdoor access they get. Especially in Canada, there is little doubt that, across the board, certified organic animal products come from happier animals raised in conditions more suited to their behavioural needs.
And while animal welfare might seem purely ethical, it has tangible effects on food quality. Stress in animals can lead to increased cortisol levels, which can affect meat quality by changing pH levels, as well as toughness and dryness. Organic standards, with their emphasis on natural behaviours and outdoor access, can contribute to lower prolonged stress levels in animals.
In other words, the ethics of animal welfare and meat quality tend to go hand in hand. In an age of deceptive marketing and 'health washing,' skepticism about the value of a certified organic label is totally understandable. But the difference is very real —especially for the animals involved.
Organically Different
In summary, investing in organic animal-based foods may be simpler than investing in organic produce, as they have two distinct differences.
Nutrition: Animals must be fed organic feed, which means they must be free from synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and GMOs. And just like us, animals are what they eat. Animal Welfare: Organic standards require animals to be raised in conditions that allow for natural behaviours, such as access to the outdoors, pasture, and sufficient space. Use of antibiotics is generally prohibited, except in cases where it's essential for the animal's health and wellbeing.
One of the most consistent nutritional differences to emerge from naturally raised animals compared to those with no similar claim- from milk to beef, poultry, and seafood, revolves around the balance of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Balancing these two essential fats is essential for overall health and may be particularly important for avoiding autoimmunity, allergies, and systemic inflammation.
A diet favouring a 1:1 ratio of the two likely better resembles the eating patterns of our paleolithic ancestors, but modern diets are far more omega-6-heavy. Anything that amends this ratio, including switching to organic animal foods as often as we can afford, is probably a step in the right direction. The good news is that even where we find them financially non-viable, concerns around contaminating residues from antibiotics and hormones may not be as problematic as we think.
At their best, organic standards of animal agriculture represent a holistic approach to acknowledging the complex interplay between soil health, animal welfare, and nutritional outcomes. And to be sure, we all have to pick our battles in the supermarket aisle. Comparisons between organic and conventional produce generally fail to clearly indicate that organic fruits and veggies are worth the price tag. Organic animal foods, on the other hand, between meaningful differences in ethics and nutrition, are more likely to warrant our attention and investment.
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