The organic food market is considerably expanding all over the world, and the related dairy market represents its third most important sector. The reason lies in the fact that consumers tend to associate organic dairy products with positive perceptions: organic milk is ecoand animal-friendly, is not produced with antibiotics or hormones, and according to general opinion, provides additional nut...

This paper estimates the effects of media coverage in organic food production and the National Organic Program on food purchases. Information from several independent data sources is complied into a unique data set that directly links national and local newspaper coverage to fluid milk consumption. An analysis of weekly store-level scanner data in a difference-in-differences approach suggests a...

We have been asked to comment on differences in trace-element concentrations between organic and conventional milk found in the recent meta-analysis by Średnicka-Tober et al.: Higher PUFA and n-3 PUFA, conjugated linoleic acid, α-tocopherol and iron, but lower iodine and selenium concentrations in organic milk: a systematic literature review and metaand redundancy analyses. Such a comment is im...

Milk produced at organic farms was studied to determine the β-carotene content and if an extended grazing period and organic fodder had any influence on the concentration of this antioxidant. Milk samples from 31 organic farms collected during April, June, August, November (1999) and February (2000) were analysed for the content of β-carotene by HPLC after lipid extraction and fat saponificatio...

While organic farming has been identified as an effective way to improve food safety and environment quality, the adoption of organic production and processing is highly determined by the market demand for organic food products. To assess the market potential for organic apples and milk, a conjoint analysis is conducted in the state of Vermont to examine consumer evaluation of major product att...

A main reason for the rapid increase in organic food consumption is the perception that organic foods have a superior nutritional composition and/or convey health benefits. However, there is currently limited scientific knowledge about the effect of production systems on food composition. The study reported here compared fatty acid profiles and levels of fat soluble antioxidants in milk from or...

The aim of the present study was to find out whether the incorporation of organic dairy and meat products in the maternal diet affects the contents of the conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA) and trans-vaccenic acid (TVA) in human breast milk. To this purpose, milk samples from 312 breastfeeding mothers participating in the KOALA Birth Cohort Study have been analysed. The participants had doc...

A total of 5852 records concerning daily milk yield, content of protein and fat, and somatic cell count was recorded in two farms (organic and conventional). Somatic cell count was log10transformed before analysis because was not normally distributed. The mixed model methodology was used according to a repeated-measures scheme, as the restricted maximum likelihood method to estimate lactation c...

Phytoestrogens have structures similar to endogenous steroids and may induce or inhibit the response of hormone receptors. The objectives of the present study were to compare the effects of long-term vs. short-term grassland management in organic and conventional dairy production systems, compare organic and conventional production systems and assess seasonal variation on phytoestrogen concentr...