Q. Is organic always better?
A. In terms of safety, there are no
differences. In terms of nutritional
value, there are probably none
either. Organic agriculture mostly
has advantages in the field of
sustainability.
Q. Does organic agriculture
always have a lower
environmental impact? For
example, compounds with
copper are used as pesticides,
and those are toxic.
A. In general, yes. The way in which
the soil is used, with rotating crops,
is much more natural. The use of
copper is an issue that we have been
looking into. We see copper pollution
as a problem for the environment
and also for amphibians, birds and
other organisms. We need to study
it better.
Q. Should we worry about the
content of fertilisers or chemicals
in food?
A. In Europe, all additives must be
evaluated before approval. All the
approved ones are in a list and must
be accepted again every 10 years
after another evaluation. There is no
such thing as zero risk, but in this
Less than half of the population is concerned about
the “biggest food problem in Europe” - the excess of
calories and the obesity epidemic that this causes -
European Food Safety Authority director Bernhard Url
says. So does Europe need organic food…and should
it come from far-flung places like New Zealand?
field, it is very, very low. The greatest
threats are food poisoning, both
bacterial and viral. There are possibly
millions of poisonings every year in
Europe that could be prevented with
better hygiene and controls.
As for chemical waste, for example
pesticides, we enforce maximum
residue limits and a European report
is prepared every year. The latter
reveals that residue contents stand
below the maximum threshold in
more than 97% of foods. In 50% of
them there is actually no residue at
all. Only in 2.4% of foods are these
limits exceeded. The situation is very
good.
Q. Are unfounded fears about
food increasing?
A. Yes. Some people have concerns.
They wonder: How can my son’s
urine have glyphosate? We’ll tell
you: The concentration is so low
that there is no risk. People answer:
But I don’t want my children’s urine
to have glyphosate. This brings us
to another question: What kind of
agriculture do we want? Do we want
pesticides or not? If we do, where
are the risks and who benefits from
it?
It is a political discussion. It’s not
about science, but about values,
about economics. We should not
mix it with evidence-based science.
Besides, there is another aspect.
Food is no longer produced in our
neighbour’s field. It comes from New
Zealand, from Chile, from Canada.
The complexity of the supply chains
makes absolute control impossible.
We don’t know where the food
comes from and we have to rely on a
complex food processing machinery.
In the end, if we want to eat, we
need to have trust. This makes
people feel insecure.
Q. How to restore their trust?
A. The industry has lost the trust
of consumers. The food industry’s
reputation has been affected. Let
us recall the horse meat issue. It
was not dangerous to our health, it
was just a deception. And then we
have to ask ourselves: do we need
strawberries from South America,
or New Zealand kiwifruit, and all
possible fruits and vegetables
from the world all year round?
Maybe we could regionalise our
agricultural production once again.
Regionalisation entails quality labels,
good animal treatment etc, and the
industry is trying to regain that trust
with this type of guarantee.
Q. Will GM crops be necessary to
feed 10 billion people?
A. I believe that if we arrange good
programmes to avoid losses after
bad harvests, we try to prevent food
waste in the so-called developed
world and we change our eating
habits, we can go far without GMOs.
There may be specific applications in
cases of dry weather or resistances,
although I don’t see a use for them in
Europe at present.
Q. Could all European agriculture
be organic?
A. I don’t think we can fully replace
conventional agriculture, but in some
countries, it accounts for 20% of the
total and I think it could even reach
30%. When institutions like hospitals
or schools start buying organic, it
makes a big difference.
Bernhard Url is a specialist in
food safety. Since 2014, he has
headed the EU body in charge
of issuing scientific studies on
pathogens, contaminants and
other compounds present in
food, so that politicians can
make evidence-based decisions.
Source: elpais.com
THE LAST WORD
ORGANIC FOODS
ARE NOT SAFER, AND
PROBABLY NOT MORE
NUTRITIOUS EITHER
130 ANNUAL DIRECTORY 2019
/elpais.com
