Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis -- Contents -- Foreword -- 1 The Shift to Organic Food -- Background -- Organic regulations -- Consumer perceptions -- Analysis of the topic -- References -- 2 Consumer Concerns About Food -- The concerns -- Consumer concerns and attitudes -- Food regulations -- Justification for consumer attitudes about the safety of organic and conventional foods -- Range of organic foods -- References -- 3 Vegetable Produce -- Pest and disease control -- Documented findings on pesticide residues -- Other chemical contaminants -- Other toxic and antinutritional compounds in produce -- Hormones -- Can organic produce cause food poisoning? -- Nutrient concentrations -- Organoleptic quality -- Identification of organic produce -- Food from afar -- Finally: watch which salad veg you eat -- Conclusions -- References -- 4 Fruit -- Pesticide residues -- Other risks with fruit -- Chemical residues -- Microbial problems -- Mycotoxins -- Cloning and gene-modified fruit -- Nutrient concentrations -- Appearance and organoleptic qualities -- Preserves -- Conclusions -- References -- 5 Cereal Grains -- Pesticide residues -- Chemical residues -- Other issues relating to grains -- Mycotoxins: are organic grains less safe? -- Gene-modified crops -- Nutritional and organoleptic qualities -- Wheat -- Oats -- Barley -- Conclusions -- References -- 6 Meat -- Chemical and pesticide residues -- Organic meat -- Hormones -- Hormone residue levels in meats. Do government agencies monitor for these? -- Developing countries -- Antibiotics -- Bacterial contamination of meat -- Cloning -- Mad-cow disease -- Contaminated beef products implicated -- Gene modification -- Nutritional and organoleptic qualities -- Beef -- Pork -- Poultry -- Fish -- Conclusions -- References -- 7 Milk and Milk Products 163 -- The hormone issue.

Raw milk -- Antibiotic residues -- Pesticide and chemical residues -- Nutritional and organoleptic qualities -- Research findings -- Consumer findings -- Conclusions -- References -- 8 Eggs -- Cholesterol -- Salmonella and food-poisoning -- Contamination with residues -- Antibiotics -- Chemical residues -- Egg quality -- Research findings -- Consumer findings -- Conclusions -- References -- 9 Is Organic Food Safer? -- Residues -- Vegetable produce -- Fruit -- Cereal grains -- Meat -- Milk -- Eggs -- Food poisoning -- Mycotoxins -- Other anti-nutrients -- Nitrate -- Significance of the findings in relation to health -- Other research on food and health -- Health of farmers and farm workers -- Other approaches -- Conclusions -- References -- 10 Is Organic Food More Nutritious and "Tasty"? -- Reviews -- Analysis by food group -- Vegetable produce -- Fruit -- Cereal grains -- Meat -- Milk -- Eggs -- Taste -- References -- 11 Psychology of Organic Food Choice -- The safety issue -- Nutritional quality and taste -- Environmental issues -- Image -- Conclusions -- References -- 12 Conclusions -- Reference -- Appendix -- Index.