Kontakt 2007, 9(2):407-415 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2007.062

Quality of organic foodsBiomedicine

Markéta Kastnerová^1,2,*, Kvetoslava Kotrbová^1,2,3

¹ Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra veřejného a sociálního zdravotnictví

² Krajská hygienická stanice Jihočeského kraje se sídlem v Českých Budějovicích

³ Kontaktní a doléčovací centrum pro drogovou závislost, o. s., Háječek, České Budějovice

Organic foods, products of ecological agriculture (organic farming) offer values and qualities, which have not yet been sufficiently explained to the consumers. Word marks "bio" and "eco", similarly as the use of adjectives "biological" and "ecological" in association with foods is protected by legislation in a decision of the EU Council (Decision of the European Economic Community No. 2092/91). In accordance with the decision of the EU Council, each ecologically manufactured product should be marked with a stamp including a code of the control organization. In the Czech Republic, the use of the Czech national mark bio became usual: "Bio-product: Product of organic farming". In accordance with valid Law No. 242/2000 Sb on ecological farming, the use of the mark on Czech products is obligatory. Organic food is a foodstuff industry product acquired from bio-products and restricted amounts of approved admixtures delimited by a technology procedure in accordance with special directions and under a control regimen. Over the last ten years, the European bio-product market increased on average by 25% annually. Since 1993, the receipts in the Czech Republic were increased by a factor of nearly ten. Expressions healthier, more nutrient or more tasteful are related to organic foods in general. The health takes the first position as a motivation for purchasing organic foods according to results of examination in consumers. In contrast, the environmental protection as a motivation takes a back seat. There is also a frequent discussion about the association between "bio" and a health. There are also reports, in which the value of organic foods for the health is considered doubtful or even principally refused. It is possible to hear opinions that plants grown without industrial fertilizers suffer from malnutrition or unvaried nutrition and thus, they do not exert the desirable chemical composition or that without treatment with pesticides, they can comprise harmful mycotoxins or other metabolites. What is the actual quality of organic foods? Organic foods are certainly healthier due to the fact that they were produced without inputs of risk substances and that they contain considerably more fibrous material, less added sugars, fats and additives, which undoubtedly positively affects their quality, human health and environment.

Keywords: Organic food; bio-product; organic farming; control of organic farming

Received: September 7, 2007; Accepted: October 30, 2007; Published: December 21, 2007  Show citation