Scots Buy Organic For Their Children

LONDON - Jan 10/06 - SNS -- Organic baby food sales have risen sharply in Scotland in recent years, now accounting for 43% the country's baby food market, even though adults do not eat that much organic food.

Writing in the Scotsman, Alison Hardie says, "The huge growth in the organic market is being fuelled by the success of ready-made products made by companies such as Hipp, which supplies parents with organic purées for weaning babies on to solid food.

"The supermarket chain Asda, which admits its sale of organic produce to adults accounts for less than 2% of overall sales, has even begun stocking luxury frozen meals for babies to cope with the demand for organic quality baby food."

The popularity of organic baby food is helped by reports that organic milk can contain 71% more omega 3 fatty acids than non-organic milk and has a better ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 than conventional milk. Surveys have found new mothers do not want to feed their children foods which have been sprayed by chemicals. In Scotland, 87% of mothers said they would buy organic because they contained less chemicals, while 84% said there were free of genetically modified organisms; and 80% said they contained no additives.