> >>Hahaha. When did you start stipulating which produce you consume is
> >>organic?
> >
> > Organic was brought up earlier in the thread. I was quite happy
> > to find the organic broccoli and cauliflower.
>
> Interestingly, both are on the Environmental Working Group's list of
> "safest" produce from the standpoint of pesticide residues. Those are
> two examples where buying organic is a complete waste of money.
>
> http://www.foodnews.org/reportcard.php

Organic varieties of tomato ketchup contain three times
as much of a cancer-fighting chemical called lycopene as
non-organic brands.

In the US, tomato ketchup comes in purple and green
varieties as well as the traditional red. Betty Ishida and
Mary Chapman at the Agricultural Research Service in
Albany, California, US, wondered if the colouring might
be indicative of low levels of lycopene, the pigment that
makes tomatoes red.

The chemical has been shown to help protect against
breast, pancreatic, prostate and intestinal cancer,
especially when eaten with fatty foods. There is also
evidence that lycopene can reduce the risk of heart
attacks (New Scientist print edition, 23 December 2000).

The researchers tested lycopene levels and antioxidant
activity in 13 ketchup brands: six popular ones, three
organic, two store brands and two from fast-food chains.
Purple and green ketchups had a similar lycopene
content to their plain red counterparts.

But organic ketchups excelled, with one brand containing
183 micrograms of lycopene per gram of ketchup, about
five times as much per weight as a tomato. Non-organic
brands averaged 100 micrograms per gram, with one
fast-food sample containing just 60 micrograms per gram.

If you want high lycopene levels, says Ishida, the rule of
thumb is to pick the darkest red ketchup.

Journal reference: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (DOI:
10.1021/jf0401540)

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6844





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SN
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