Does eating organic foods lower my cancer risk?

Key takeaways:

• Organic food must be produced according to a specific set of standards according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
• There is no evidence that choosing organic foods over non-organic foods is directly tied to a lower cancer risk.
• You do ingest a very small amount of hormones and antibiotics from organic foods, but there is no proof that consuming them can increases your cancer risk.

Have you ever paused in the grocery store, holding a carton of eggs or a bundle of produce, and wondered whether you should choose organic or non-organic? Maybe you’ve asked yourself:

Is organic food worth the extra cost? Does it have any health benefits? And, perhaps most importantly, are there health risks to NOT eating organic?

Below we will examine whether eating non-organic foods can increase your cancer risk.

What is organic food?

In the United States, food labeled organic means it has been produced according to the organic standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which require a specific set of practices:

• Organic farmers cannot use synthetic (man-made) soil additives or fertilizers, genetic engineering or radiation.
• Organically farmed animals cannot be exposed to growth hormones or antibiotics.
• Organically farmed animals’ diets must consist of organic feed (animal food produced from crops grown without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers or genetically engineered seeds), and they must be able to go outdoors.
• Organically farmed produce cannot be grown with the use of synthetic chemical pesticides. (Non-synthetic pesticides are allowed.)

Organic farming requires these specific production methods to verify that the food is grown sustainably and naturally, minimizing environmental impact, promoting animal welfare and reducing synthetics like GMOs (genetically modified organisms—any plant or animal DNA that has been altered using modern biotechnology), artificial fertilizers and chemical pesticides.

Các USDA’s National Organic Program  maintains and enforces these standards for organic crops, livestock and agricultural products. USDA certifiers also inspect organic farms and track the farms’ products to the grocery stores.

Does eating non-organic foods increase cancer risk?

When it comes to your grocery store picks, there is no evidence that choosing organic foods over non-organic foods is directly tied to a reduction in cancer risk.

MỘT 2018 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) did find that people who frequently ate organic foods had lower cancer rates than those who rarely or never ate them. But the relationship isn’t as straightforward as it may seem.

The study separated 70,000 participants into four groups, based on how often they ate organic foods, ranging from “most of the time” to “never.”

Researchers then compared the cancer rates among the four groups and found that participants in the “most of the time” group were 75% less likely to develop cancer, compared to those in the group that said they never ate organic foods.

However, according to Dr. Nigel Brockton, director of research at the American Institute for Cancer Research, it’s hard to determine if the difference in organic and non-organic foods was causing the difference in cancer rates.

“Diet is complex,” Dr. Brockton said. “People who report eating organic foods are more likely to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as exercising or not smoking, which would lower their cancer risk.”

Why does non-organic food cause cancer concerns?

In non-organic food production, the use of growth hormones and antibiotics in animals is allowed. Concern stems from these chemicals being ingested by humans later in the process. For example, if growth hormones or antibiotics are given to cows, and humans later consume both the meat (beef) and milk of the cow, are people then ingesting and/or being harmed by these chemicals?

Although you do ingest a very small amount of hormones and antibiotics given to animals, there is currently no proof that consuming those food products adds to the risk of developing cancer or other chronic diseases.

As for produce like fruits and vegetables, the questions about cancer risk center around pesticides. Non-organic produce will almost always contain trace amounts of synthetic pesticides, which evidence suggests can be harmful to humans at certain levels of exposure.

To ensure non-organic foods are safe to eat, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the USDA work in tandem to control the amount of pesticide residue allowed on foods, setting rules for the level of pesticides it deems to be safe and tolerable for humans to consume.

The organization has a different risk assessment and established tolerance for each crop. They say this ensures a reasonable certainty of no harm to people of all ages from eating small amounts of pesticides in food. The EPA also reevaluates each pesticide’s safety every 15 years.

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If you’re still concerned, you can also eliminate some of the remaining residue by washing your produce before you eat. You should always wash fruits and vegetables regardless of whether they’re from the grocery store, the farmers market or even from your own garden to remove anything from lingering dirt and small insects to harmful bacteria like E. coli.

Pro tip: Washing is most effective by rubbing the fruit or vegetable with your hands or even a brush while under running water, rather than dunking or submerging it.

It’s your diet—not the organic label—that drives cancer risk.

Here’s what we DO know: Your diet is proven to impact your risk of cancer. Diets rich with vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes are proven to lower your cancer risk, and diets high in salt, processed foods, red meat, added sugar and alcohol are proven to increase your cancer risk.

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Eating a healthier diet and eating an organic diet aren’t necessarily the same, so if you still have any confusion, think of it this way:

Swapping out fried foods for organic meats and produce will reduce your cancer risk. But there is no existing evidence that says ditching your non-organic apples for organic apples will reduce your cancer risk.

At the end of the day, it’s your overall eating pattern—not the organic label—that will keep you healthy and ahead of cancer.