Department of Applied Science, Limerick Institute of Technology, Moylish Park, Limerick, Ireland.
J Sci Food Agric. 2011 Sep;91(12):2126-31. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.4503. Epub 2011 Jul 12.
In 2009 the Irish organic food market was forecasted to grow from €120 m to €239 m by 2013; however, recent figures set its value at just €90 m. An estimated 70% of this market is imported. Surveys of Irish consumers reveal that 66% of consumers prefer to buy local produce and most organic consumers are buying organic at supermarkets. This evidence reveals that Irish producers must trade at supermarkets, and promote 'local produce' to ensure their produce reach the majority of buyers. Seventy-eight % of organic rejecters state price and 21% state unawareness of the benefits as reasons for not buying organic. Many Irish consumers are buying organic food on the perceived belief that it is healthier, safer and tastes better; however, a review of studies on organic versus conventional foods in terms of health benefits, safety and sensory quality has shown that existing data is limited in scope and fails to show a clear trend. The review concludes with the need for a comprehensive study of a range of organic and conventional foods available to the Irish consumer in order to determine if differences in organic cultivation result in statistically significant differences in health linked compounds and sensory quality.
2009 年，爱尔兰有机食品市场预计将从 1.2 亿欧元增长至 2013 年的 2.39 亿欧元；然而，最近的数据显示其价值仅为 9000 万欧元。据估计，该市场的 70%是进口的。对爱尔兰消费者的调查显示，66%的消费者更喜欢购买本地产品，大多数有机消费者在超市购买有机产品。这一证据表明，爱尔兰生产商必须在超市进行交易，并推广“本地产品”，以确保他们的产品能到达大多数买家。78%的有机拒绝者表示价格和 21%的人表示不知道好处是他们不购买有机食品的原因。许多爱尔兰消费者购买有机食品是因为他们认为有机食品更健康、更安全、味道更好；然而，对有机食品与传统食品在健康益处、安全性和感官质量方面的研究进行综述后表明，现有数据的范围有限，无法显示出明确的趋势。该综述的结论是，需要对爱尔兰消费者可获得的一系列有机和传统食品进行全面研究，以确定有机种植是否会导致与健康相关的化合物和感官质量的统计学显著差异。
