How long does it take to research organic food?

How long does it take to find scientific research references about the nutritional advantages of organic foods?

Before I answer this question, let me ask another on a totally unrelated topic: How long does it take to find out when Singapore imposed a ban on fire crackers?

I raise this topic of fire crackers because recently, a friend needed to know, and she gave up looking after quite a few days. She not only searched the Internet but also official government documents such as the Singapore Government Year Book. When she told me this, I went to my computer, called up Google, typed in something like "fire crackers ban Singapore", clicked "Pages from Singapore" and got the answer in maybe less than two minutes.

The answer: A partial ban was imposed in March 1970, after a fire in Febraury killed some people, injured many others, and caused extensive property damage. But the partial ban did not solve the problem of fires and accidents, so a full ban was imposed in June 1972.

Now here is an interesting twist. Just before I started writing this blog, I thought I'd do the same search again on fire crackers.

This time, I could not find the same article that provided the above answers. I found several artciles that put the date as "some years ago" or "more than 30 years ago". After about 20 minutes - and after trying various combinations of keywords - I finally found one that said the ban was imposed in 1972 after an explosion caused by fire crackers that year. I have a feeling the explosion was the one that took place in 1970!

So maybe it is not that easy after all.

With regards to organic foods, you won't be very successful if you search Google for, say, "organic foods" or "organic food benefits". But try something like "organic foods nutritional advantages" and you will be on to something.

So, it can be done. If you are smart or lucky with keywords, it might take you a few minutes. Otherwise, maybe an hour or two. It should not be so tedious as to take you days, weeks or months.

Why do I raise this issue?

First, because a friend, when I told him about this blog, suggested that I post yet more research citing organic foods to be superior. My initial reaction was to ask him to find it for himself. Then I realise I could find the information because others had taken the trouble to compile them. So maybe I should as well.

So watch this space. I will put up something soon.

The main reason why I raise this issue is that some civil servants - not just in the Health Promotion Board but also the Public Utilities Board, Agri-Food and Vetenirary Authority, National Environmental Agency, etc - somehow feel they can simply assert their official views as "the complete truth".

They simply make statements without substantiating them, statements such as:
organic foods offer no nutritional advantages over non-organic foods,
pesticides are harmless
chlorinated water poses no health problems
fluorides in water are good for the teeth
fogging is effective...

It is not just the civil servants who do this. But the people who represent large commercial interests do likewise with statemens such as:
MSG is harmless and even good for health
Aspartame (Equal) has been scientifically proven to be safe
Milk is the best source of calcium
Microwave cooking is harmless
Mobile phones are harmless...

All it takes is a bit of research on the Internet to discover that such statements are, to put it mildly, one-sided. They merely present one small aspect of a much bigger picture. And the bigger picture often tells a completely different story.

The thing is, most people allow them to do this. They simply accept what has been said, especially if the person saying it is in a position of authority, or carries an honourific such as "Dr".

Sometimes, when I feel strongly enough about an issue, I will write to the press. Some other people do so too. But there are so few of us. And we don't want to be seen as if we have a bone to pick with the particular civil servant, governmental agency or product.

Also, we do not want to be suspected - or worse, wrongly accused - of having vested interests, when our only vested interests are our health and well-being. For example, when I wrote an article recently about the need to filter tap water, certain people immediately suspected that I was in the business of selling water filters.

In any case, if we write to the Straits Times Forum, our chances of getting published are about 10-15 out of 70, slightly more if we now count the on-line forum. Moreover, we are limited to 500 words and to two letters a month.

So do something about this. Don't just sit there and wait for people like me to dig out information for you and debate with the authorities on your behalf.

If more and more of us stop blindly accepting what they say, perhaps they will stop treating us like children and asking us to accept only their versions of the truth.