A significant interest in organic tree fruit production has developed over the last 10 to 15 years. Total US sales of organic food and beverages were estimated at $9.0 to $9.5 billion for 2001, representing between one and two percent of total US food and beverage sales. Although the percentage is small, growth rates for organic products are 10 to 20 percent per year, well above growth rates fo...

This study analyzes consumer purchasing behavior of organic fresh fruits and vegetables using the 2006 Nielsen Homescan panel. An ordered logit model was estimated to quantify the impacts of economic and socio-demographic factors on the probability of a household belonging to a specific organic user group—devoted, casual, or nonuser. Results suggest that price and income, to some extent, affect...

OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to investigate whether organic conversion in catering has positive effects on the nutritional quality of menus offered. DESIGN The methodology was based on a self-administered questionnaire. The self-declared priority given to the use of organic foods was measured as the basis for assigning catering managers to one of two groups: 'green' or 'non-green' catere...

A detection method using polystyrene-coated magnetic nanoparticles based extraction technique coupled to HPLC was developed for trace amount of pyrethroids residue detection in vegetable matrixes. The recoveries for five kinds of commonly used pyrethroids were in the range of 91.6%-116.2%. The sensitivity and precision of the method were satisfactory with the limits of detection and limits of q...

The consumption of crops fertilized with human waste represents a potential route of exposure to antibiotic-resistant fecal bacteria. The present study evaluated the abundance of bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes by using both culture-dependent and molecular methods. Various vegetables (lettuce, carrots, radish, and tomatoes) were sown into field plots fertilized inorganically or with cl...

People who eat out in urban are more common than ever before. However, restaurant foods are often high in calories, and lack for enough vegetables. Moreover, they provide too many calories from animal fat and protein resulting in a high risk of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. Furthermore, a diet high in animal products contributes to global warming. For these reasons, a vegetarian di...

The presence of antibiotic-resistant enterobacteria in fresh vegetables can be considered as a silent food safety concern, contributing to dissemination of resistances in the community. Here, we have studied the presence of Enterobacteriaceae isolates in organic fresh produce and the resistance of these isolates to eleven chemotherapeutic agents. A total of 50 samples of organic fresh vegetable...

The effect of added organic acids on the calcium availability of vegetables was investigated using the dialysis profiles obtained from an in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion with continuous-flow dialysis method. Citric acid was the most effective enhancer followed by tartaric, malic, and ascorbic acids. For amaranth, which has a low calcium availability (5.4%), a significant increase ...