Slowly but surely organic foods are making their way into the market. In what ways are they different, and are they worth the extra price to pay?
The Consumer Council has produced a comprehensive report on this topic of growing consumer interest, and conducted a price survey of selected organic foods for the reference of consumers.
In a 2004 study entitled "Green Food Claims", the Consumers International [1] identified three problems associated with labeling for organically produced foods: (a) proliferation of organic labels and logos; (b) consumers' confusion with organic foods; (c) misleading "bio" brand names.
In Hong Kong, there are two organic certification organizations, namely, the Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre, and the Hong Kong Organic Certification Centre. The former, the HKORC, funded by Vegetable Marketing Organisation and established by Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Organic Farming Association and Produce Green Foundation in 2002, has just issued its first set of certifications this month.
Currently there is no specific regulation governing the production and labeling of organic foods in Hong Kong. They should abide by the law applicable to other general foodstuffs.
The Council suggests consideration be given to developing a well-established organic certifier accreditation system and organic certification system, which would facilitate consumers to distinguish organic food and make informed choice.
In the report, it quoted the UK Food Standard Agency that on the basis of current evidence, organic food is not significantly different in terms of food safety and nutrition from food produced conventionally.
Similarly, the US Department of Agriculture made no claims that organically produced food is safer or more nutritious than conventionally produced food.
Essentially organic food differs from the conventional food in the way it is grown, handled and processed. Organic agriculture avoids using chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, while in livestock husbandry, antibiotic, growth hormone and other feed additive are not used.
The Consumer Council has conducted a small-scale price survey. Since it is not common for the same brand of product to have conventional version and equivalent organic version, therefore most conventional foods and their organic equivalents were under different brands in this survey.
The prices of 18 muesli products (3 of them were organic) and 25 yoghurt products (5 of them were organic) collected in two supermarkets were compared.
The average unit prices of conventional and organic muesli products were similar. However, it was observed that there was a brand of muesli product, its organic version was around 60% more expensive than the conventional version.
In the case of yoghurts, the prices of conventional products varied but were cheaper than the organic products in general. The average unit price of organic yoghurt products was around 70% higher than conventional products.
For organic vegetables, the prices of totally 8 vegetables from three wet markets in different districts were studied and compared. The results showed that organic vegetables were usually more expensive. For example, the organic Chinese lettuce was priced 50% higher in a wet market, while the organic water spinach was double in price in another market.
Organic farming requires more manpower and better agricultural management technique in order to conserve energy, soil and water resources, and to practice sustainable agriculture. As such, the production cost of organic foods may be higher than conventional foods.
1. Consumers International (CI) supports, links and represents consumer groups and agencies all over the world. It has a membership of over 250 organisations in 115 countries.
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