London, October 29:

Some organic foods, including fruit, vegetables and milk, may be more nutritious than non-organic produce, according to an investigation by British scientists.

Early results from a £12 million study showed that organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40 per cent more antioxida-nts than non-organic varieties, according to Professor Carlo Leifert at Newcastle University, who leads EU-funded Quality Low Input Food project.

Larger differences were found in milk, with organic varieties containing m-ore than 60 per cent more antioxidants and healthy fatty acids, he said.

Antioxidant-rich food is often promoted as healthier because in labtests co-mpounds neutralise free radicals that are thought to contribute to ageing.

The findings contradict advice from the UK’s Food Standards Agency, which maintains there is no scientific evidence to suggest organic food is healthier.

During the four-year long project, Prof Leifert’s team, which is based at the university’s Tesco centre for organic agriculture, reared cattle and grew fruit and vegetables on adjacent organic and non-organic sites across Eur-ope, including a 290-hec-tare farm attached to the university. The full results of study will be released in over the next 12 months.

“What we’re really interested in is finding out wh-ich agro system gives hi-gher nutritional content.”