AsapSCIENCE Says Think Twice About Organic Food

AsapSCIENCE, the popular YouTube channel, is all about how science affects our daily lives. They’re also one of the more popular YouTube channels, getting the new YouTube Community feature first. Now, the creators bring you the science behind organic food, and the trendy grocery store label might not be as good for us – or the environment – as we might suspect.

According to AsapSCIENCE, organic food labels are the first thing lying to you. If a food item has “organic” printed on it, it must only contain 95% organic ingredients. “Made with organic ingredients” is 70% and “containing organic ingredients” is 50%. Only foods specifically labeled “100% organic” actually are.

What “organic” means is also not what we think. To be organic, the ingredient or food item must be made with no synthetic pesticides; natural pesticides can be included. There are plenty of these pesticides and fertilizers that can be used. Unfortunately, these can actually be worse for the environment – and people.

And while we think of organic as better for us, that may not be true. Organic foods include only 1% of farming acreage in the US. But “organic” foods were included in 7% of all recalls last year. Though there may be some health benefits to these ingredients, they aren’t as substantial as people think — to the point that AsapSCIENCE describes them as “clinically insignificant”.

What do you think? Did this video affect your opinion on organic food? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter.