Renowned restaurant critic Egon Ronay has called on the government to provide clearer information about organic food and claimed that organic producers are “conning the public”.
Ronay told the BBC that shops and producers are profiting from public confusion about organics.
He has added his name to a growing list of food experts to question the way organic products are marketed - and said there is no scientific proof they are healthier.
"The public has no clear idea what organic food is," he said, pointing the finger at David Miliband, the Defra secretary, for comments he made last month [as reported on freshinfo].
"We're being conned and I think the minister ought to be pinned down and ought to be challenged to spell out in terms that the public can clearly understand what is organic food."
Robin Maynard, director of communications for the Soil Association, said: "I have a great deal of respect for Egon Ronay because he has done an awful lot of good in promoting healthy, unprocessed seasonal food...
"But I think he has got it wrong in his criticism of organic food."
