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Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of 2016, Wendy's was the world's third largest hamburger fast food chain with 6,537 locations, following Burger King's 15,738 locations and McDonald's' 36,615 locations. On April 24, 2008, the company announced a merger with Triarc Companies Inc., a publicly traded company and the parent company of Arby's. Despite the new ownership, Wendy's headquarters remained in Dublin. Previously, Wendy's had rejected more than two buyout offers from Triarc. Following the merger, Triarc became known as Wendy's/Arby' s Group, and later as The Wendy's Company.

As of January 2, 2017, there were a total of 6,537 locations, including 330 that are company-owned. 6,207 restaurants are franchised, and 77% of them are located in North America. Wendy's and its affiliates employ more than 47,000 people in its global operations. In fiscal year 2006, the firm had $2.469 billion (USD) in total sales. While Wendy's sets standards for exterior store appearance, food quality, and menu, individual owners have control over hours of operations, interior decor, pricing and staff uniforms and wages.

Wendy's menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries and beverages, including the signature Frosty, which is a soft serve frozen dairy dessert. Since phasing out their famous "Big Classic", the company does not have a signature sandwich, such as the Burger King Whopper or the McDonald's Big Mac - although, by default, the "signature sandwich" spot seems to have been filled by Dave's 1/4 lb. Single (introduced in 2011 as Dave's Hot 'N Juicy as a reworking of the longstanding Wendy's Single, shortened to simply Dave's in 2016), a square-pattied burger made with fresh ground beef rather than round frozen patties. Wendy's uses these square hamburger patties â€" which hang over the edge of a circular bun â€" as its signature item.

History

The chain is known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries and the Frosty, a form of soft serve ice cream mixed with frozen starches. The idea for Wendy's "old fashioned" hamburgers was inspired by Dave Thomas's trips to Kewpee Hamburgers in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes, much like the well-known restaurant that Thomas eventually founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. Square patties had corners that stuck out so that customers could easily see the quality of the meat. The Columbus location later added a Tim Hortons and was closed on March 2, 2007, after 38 years of business due to declining sales. Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas. Photographs of her were on display at the original Wendy's restaurant until it closed. In August 1972, the first Wendy's franchisee, L.S. Hartzog, signed an agreement for Indianapolis, Indiana. Also, in 1972, Wendy's aired its first TV commercials that were only broadcast locally in Ohio. This series of commercials was titled "C'mon to Wendy's" because they stressed Wendy's superiority through the "Quality Is Our Recipe" slogan and featured an animated Wendy similar to the one from the corporate logo along with dancing hamburgers.

The first Canadian restaurant also opened in Hamilton, ON in 1976. In December 1976, Wendy's opened its 500th restaurant, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Wendy's founded the fried chicken chain Sisters Chicken in 1978 and sold it to its largest franchiser in 1987.

In 1979, the first European Wendy's opened in Munich. The same year Wendy's became the first fast-food chain to introduce the salad bar.

Wendy's entered the Asian market by opening its first restaurants in Japan in 1980, in Hong Kong in 1982 and in the Philippines and Singapore in 1983. In 1984, Wendy's opened its first restaurant in South Korea.

In response to a 1986 slowdown in the chain's performance, Wendy's restructured its cleanliness standards, menu, and other operational details to ensure that stores met the goals and standards of the parent company so that its franchises were competitive in the market. Wendy's closed all its outlets in Hong Kong in 1986 and in Singapore in the following year.

From 1988 to 1990, Wendy's expanded operations globally to Mexico, New Zealand, Indonesia, Greece, Turkey, Guatemala, as well as the U.S. Naval Base in Naples, Italy. In 1988, Wendy's expanded its bar to a full-blown buffet called the Superbar for $2.99. The Superbar had various stations: "Mexican Fiesta", the Italian "Pasta Pasta," and the "Garden Spot", salad and fruit. The Superbar was popular but difficult to maintain thus was discontinued in 1998.

In 1989, Wendy's opened its first restaurant in Greece at Syntagma Square being the first foreign fast-food chain in the country. After opened 12 restaurants in 3 cities the company finally abandoned the Greek market in 2002.

In 1996, the chain expanded in Argentina by opening 18 local restaurants. However, all of them closed only four years later due to the economic crisis in the country.

In 1998, Wendy's pulled out of South Korea by closing all its 15 restaurants and in 2000 exited from the UK, Argentina, and Hong Kong.

Garden Sensations salads were added in 2002.

Wendy's signed a franchise agreement to re-enter the Singapore market in 2009 though that agreement was short-lived; in April 2015, Wendy's ceased operation in the country and closed all the restaurants.

In 2011, Wendy's returned to Japan and Argentina announcing a development agreement for 50 restaurants in the country. It also entered the Russian market for first time with plans to open 180 restaurants over a 10-year period.

In 2013, Wendy's opened the first restaurant in Georgia and made a deal to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In 2014, Wendy's closed all its restaurants in Russia. In September 2014, several pork based products were introduced to be on sale until early November. These included a standard pulled pork sandwich with slaw and three sauce options, a BBQ Pulled Pork Cheeseburger and cheese fries with pulled pork, cheddar cheese sauce, onions, and barbecue sauce.

In May 2015, Wendy's announced they would be expanding into India, with its first outlet located in Gurgaon.

Wendy's is planning to sell 540 of its restaurants. The divesture is the second step in a three-step action plan to improve the brand. Other steps include new openings and remodeling of existing stores. In 2015, the brand expects to open 80 new restaurants. It will remodel 450 of its existing locations. The brand's goal is to remodel at least 60% of its North American locations by 2020 year-end. In September 2016, it was announced that JAE Restaurant Group had acquired 97 Wendy's restaurants throughout the South Florida region. JAE Restaurant Group is one of the country’s largest franchisee owners. The Group owns 177 Wendy’s Restaurants. Wendy’s Co. has been looking to remodel existing stores and upgrade the curb appeal of its locations. They have been doing this by adding fireplaces, more seating options, adding WiFi and flat screen TVs, and digital menus. Wendy’s Co expects to sell 258 more restaurants during the rest of 2016. In total, they will be looking to sell $435 million of its restaurants.

Countries with Wendy's

• •  United States
    •  Alabama
    •  Alaska
    •  Arizona
    •  Arkansas
    •  California
    •  Colorado
    •  Connecticut
    •  Delaware
    •  Florida
    •  Georgia
    •  Hawaii
    •  Idaho
    •  Illinois
    •  Indiana
    •  Iowa
    •  Kansas
    •  Kentucky
    •  Louisiana
    •  Maine
    •  Maryland
    •  Massachusetts
    •  Michigan
    •  Minnesota
    •  Mississippi
    •  Missouri
    •  Montana
    •  Nebraska
    •  Nevada
    •  New Hampshire
    •  New Jersey
    •  New Mexico
    •  New York
    •  North Carolina
    •   North Dakota
    •  Ohio
    •  Oklahoma
    •  Oregon
    •  Pennsylvania
    •  Rhode Island
    •  South Carolina
    •  South Dakota
    •  Tennessee
    •  Texas
    •  Utah
    •  Vermont
    •  Virginia
    •  Washington
    •  West Virginia
    •  Wisconsin
    •  Wyoming
    •  District of Columbia
  •  Canada
  •  Argentina
  •  Aruba
  •  The Bahamas
  •  Brazil
  •  Chile
  •  Dominican Republic
  •  Ecuador
  •  El Salvador
  •  Georgia
  •  Cayman Islands
  •  Guam
  •  Guatemala
  •  Honduras
  •  India
  •  Indonesia
  •  Jamaica
  •  Japan
  •  Kuwait
  •  Malaysia
  •  Mexico
  •  New Zealand
  •  Panama
  •  Philippines
  •  Puerto Rico
  •  Trinidad and Tobago
  •  United Arab Emirates
  •  Venezuela
  •  United States Virgin Islands

Menu

Wendy's offers two different hamburger patties, a "Junior" 1.78 ounce (50.4 gram) patty and its "Single" 4 ounce (113.4 gram) patty. 4-ounce patties are sold in single, double and triple sizes whereas the junior patties sell in single and double patties. The previous size of 2 ounces per junior patty was altered to its current size in 2007 to save on expenses from rising food costs. Originally Wendy's had only two kinds of chicken sandwiches, fried and grilled. The spicy chicken sandwich started out as a promotional sandwich. It was later put on the menu full-time in 1996 due to its popularity and the fact that, compared to most promotional sandwiches, it was much simpler to make (it used the same condiments as the standard breaded chicken sandwich).

The Frescata line of sandwiches also went from being promotional items to main menu items. After going through several revisions, the Turkey and Swiss and the Ham and Swiss were put on the menu full-time. However, the Frescata sandwiches were discontinued in mid-December 2007.

Occasionally, some Wendy's restaurants would offer a fried fish sandwich for some of its customers who desire fish instead of beef or chicken.

In 1988, Wendy's was the first fast-food chain to create a single price-point value menu where all items listed on that menu were priced exclusively at 99¢. The menu was restructured in 2007 due to rising costs as the Super Value Menu with prices ranging from 99¢ to $2.00 USD.

Breakfast

In mid-2007, Wendy's began a national debut of its new breakfast menu in its U.S. and Canadian stores. Wendy's experimented with serving breakfast for a short time in 1985, but the endeavor was unsuccessful due to many issues. While approximately 12 Wendy's restaurants in the U.S. and its territories have been serving breakfast since then, Wendy's has not had a company-wide breakfast offering. The new breakfast menu was expected be fully deployed to all Wendy's in the United States by the end of 2009, but as of July 2014, many Wendy's franchises across the country still do not have a breakfast menu.

The newer breakfast menu differs slightly from the one featured in 1985, and it is structured similarly to its lunch/dinner menu, with value meals and various sides like blended fruit. Menu items include several breakfast sandwiches served on biscuits, frescuit and Kaiser rolls, breakfast burritos and side orders of hash browns, muffins, and cinnamon sticks. In order to avoid the same issues the original 1985 breakfast offerings faced, the new menu was designed for ease of operation, lower costs, and reduced preparation time.

In January 2016, Wendy's announced a transition plan to source only cage-free eggs by the year 2020 in all U.S. and Canadian locations that serve breakfast.

Notable menu items

• Frosty dessert â€" a frozen dairy dessert sold in chocolate and vanilla flavors. The Frosty flavors are also sold as a float. Recently, Frosty Shakes â€" a Frosty blended with either caramel, strawberry or chocolate fudge syrup â€" have been served at Wendy's.
• Dave's - In late 2011, Wendy's altered the recipe for their Single, Double, and Triple burgers, which had been staples of the menu for decades, in order to rerelease each as part of the new Dave's Hot 'N Juicy line. As before, they were constructed from the same basic patty (and the words "Single," "Double," and "Triple" were retained at the end of the new names), but the patty was now thicker, and its square edges had been rounded off slightly. The cheese began to be stored at a warmer temperature, allowing it to melt more completely over the patty, alterations were made to the bun and the selection of produce (white onions were replaced by red onions), and the condiments now consisted of ketchup and mayonnaise rather than ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard. They were updated in 2016 and renamed as simply Dave's, now using bakery-style buns.
• Big Classic â€" A sandwich that directly competed with the Burger King Whopper (no longer available in US stores). Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and onions served on a Kaiser-style roll. A second version with bacon was available, called the Big Bacon Classic, which was replaced with the Bacon Deluxe in 2009 when the Applewood Smoked Bacon was introduced.
• Baconator - Single Baconator is one quarter-pound patty topped with mayonnaise, ketchup, three strips of bacon and two slices of cheese; Double Baconator has mayonnaise, ketchup, six strips of bacon, two quarter-pound (113.4 gram) patties and three slices of American cheese; and the Triple Baconator (1360 calories) is three quarter-pound patties with nine strips of bacon, four slices of cheese, ketchup, and mayonnaise.
• Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger - Introduced in January 2014, the Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger is made with a quarter-pound beef patty, aged Asiago cheese, thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, rosemary garlic aïoli, and oven-roasted tomatoes. At launch, the sandwich was priced at $4.79 in the United States and was part of a strategy to market higher-priced menu items to help position Wendy's as a premium fast food chain. Wendy's advertised the sandwich as a limited-time product that would be withdrawn in March 2014. According to the company, the sandwich has 670 calories. The debut of the burger received positive reviews. Syndicated fast food columnist Ken Hoffman called the burger "another winner" and "worth the carbs," while the Phoenix New Times declared it was "one of the better burgers in the entire fast food industry." Reviewers at the Sioux City Journal offered more mixed evaluations, with only two of four taste testers saying they would be likely to try the burger a second time.
• Black bean burger - Wendy's and a number of major fast food chains have been targeted for decades for meatless entrees, typically, meatless 'veggieburgers' - and Wendy's response is the black bean burger (still in 'beta' testing in Salt Lake City, Utah; Columbus, Ohio; and Columbia, South Carolina). Its major ingredients are black beans, wild rice, farro, onions, brown rice, carrots, quinoa, corn, green bell peppers, and red bell peppers; and the sauce and seasonings include red wine vinegar, chili peppers, cumin, cilantro, and oregano and sea salt.

Advertising

After successful early growth of the chain, sales flattened as the company struggled to achieve brand differentiation in the highly competitive fast-food market. This situation would turn around in the mid-1980s. Starting on January 9, 1984, elderly actress Clara Peller was featured in the successful "Where's the Beef?" North American commercial campaign written by Cliff Freeman. Her famous line quickly entered the American pop culture (it was even used by Walter Mondale in a debate with Gary Hart in the Democratic primary election) and served to promote Wendy's hamburgers. Peller, age 83, was dropped from the campaign in 1985 because she performed in a commercial for Prego spaghetti sauce, saying she "finally found" the beef.

Peller was soon after replaced by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas himself. Soft-spoken and bashful, the "Dave" ads generally focused on Thomas praising his products and offering a commitment to quality service, although there would occasionally be "wackier" ads as well. Thomas ultimately appeared in more than 800 commercials, more than any other company founder in television history.

After Dave Thomas' death in 2002, Wendy's struggled to find a new advertising campaign. After a round of conventional ads describing the food they serve, in 2004 they tried using a character they made called "Mr. Wendy" who claimed to be the unofficial spokesperson for the chain. These proved to be extremely unsuccessful. After seven months, Wendy's returned to an animated campaign focusing on the difference between Wendy's square hamburgers and the round hamburgers of competitors.

Wendy's marketing arm engages in product placement in films and television and is sometimes seen on ABC's reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, serving food to the more than 100 construction workers.

A 2007 Wendy's commercial featured the tune from the Violent Femmes song "Blister in the Sun." The inclusion of the song in the commercial provoked an internal conflict between members of the Violent Femmes, which resulted in a lawsuit between bassist Brian Ritchie and lead singer Gordon Gano that ultimately led to the band disbanding in 2009.

With their "That's right" ad campaign not a success, Wendy's unveiled a new ad campaign, featuring the animated version of their mascot voiced by Luci Christian highlighting certain menu items. The new ad campaign made its debut in late January 2008, with slogans: in the USA: "It's waaaay better than fast food. It's Wendy's." and in Canada,"It's waaaay delicious. It's Wendy's." The company's slogan, "you know when it's real," was introduced in 2010.

In November 2010, a series of commercials aired featuring the company's namesake, Wendy Thomas, which marked the first time she had appeared in a Wendy's advertisement.

In April 2012, Morgan Smith Goodwin began appearing as the redhead in ads with the slogan "Now that's better." In 2013, social media advertising featuring Nick Lachey directed at millennials promoted the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger.

A 2014 campaign to promote the Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta sandwich entitled "L'Estrella de la Toscana," or "Star of Tuscany" in English was launched on television and social media. A 2014 campaign to promote the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger was run until November 2014 was shown to many people watching TV starting on March 18, 2014

Slogans

United States â€" Canada

• 1969â€"1978: Quality Is Our Recipe (this slogan is still shown on the Wendy's logo today.)
• 1977â€"1980, 1987: Hot-N-Juicy
• 1977: We fix 'em 256 ways (alternate slogan)
• 1978â€"1979: Juicy hamburgers
• 1980â€"1981: Wendy's Has the Taste You Crave
• 1981â€"1982: Ain't No Reason to Go Anyplace Else
• 1982â€"1985: You're Wendy's Kind of People
• 1983â€"1984: Parts is parts
• 1984â€"1986: Where's the beef?
• 1985â€"1988: Choose Fresh, choose Wendy's (Originally used alongside "Where's the Beef?")
• 1987â€"1993: Give a little nibble was to be a catchy phrase that would capture the attention of consumers and help make Wendy's a major player on the fast-food scene once again. This television commercial was a flop and sent Wendy's hunting for a new advertising agency. After a poorly received seven-week run, Wendy's pulled the television commercials created by Dick Rich Inc. The "nibble" spots were meant to emphasize Wendy's better-tasting hamburger. They showed customers ripping off chunks of meat from an absurdly large hamburger.
• 1988â€"1992: The best burgers in the business.
• 1989â€"1998: The best burgers and a whole lot more (also was printed inside the hamburger wrappers during the 1990s)
• 1996 - 1998: The Best Burgers Yet!!
• 1997 â€" present: You can eat great, even late
• 2001â€"2005: It's hamburger bliss.
• 2002â€"2004: It's better here
• 2003â€"2007: It's Always Great, Even Late. (Canada)
• 2004â€"2007: Do what tastes right. (primary slogan)
• 2005 â€" present: It's good to be square.
• August 2006 â€" March 2008: That's right.
• August 2006 â€" March 2008: Uh-Huh.
• 2007â€"2008: Hot Juicy Burgers
• August 2007 â€" October 2009: It's way better than fast food... It's Wendy's. (United States)
• August 2007 â€" October 2009: It's way delicious. It's Wendy's. (Canada)
• August 2007 â€" October 2009: Carrément bon. C'est Wendy's. (EN: "Squarely good. It's Wendy's.") (Quebec, Canada)
• January 2010 â€" April 2012: You know when it's real.
• March 2012 â€": Now that's better.
• May 2016 â€" Present: Quality is our recipe.

International

• 1983 â€" present: It's the best time for... Wendy's (Philippines)
• 1994 (approx) â€" 2002: Wendy's η τετράγωνη επιλογή (Wendy's the square option) (Greece)
• 2000 (approx) â€" present: Quality is our recipe (Indonesia, New Zealand, Chile & United States)
• 2000 (approx) â€" present: Wendy's cuadra contigo (Wendy's fits with you). The word cuadra (fit) is a reference to the Spanish word cuadrado that means square. (Venezuela)
• 2001 (approx) â€" present: El Sabor de lo Recién Hecho (The Flavor of the Freshly Made) (Honduras)
• 2007 (approx) â€" 2009: Wendy's es Sensacional (Wendy's is Sensational) (El Salvador)
• 2008 â€" present: It's not just fast food; it's fresh food, made fast (Malaysia)
• 2008 â€" present: Old Fashion Hamburgers (Dominican Republic)
• 2009 â€" present: "Wendy's, sabor al cuadrado" (Wendy's, taste to the square) (Mexico)
• 2009 â€" present: Es muuuuucho más que comida rápida, es Wendy's (It's waaaaay more than fast food, it's Wendy's.) (El Salvador)

Controversy

Until 2014 Wendy's and other fast food chains used Azodicarbonamide as a bread whitener and dough conditioner.

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Burmese cuisine includes dishes from various regions of Myanmar (now officially known as Myanmar). The diversity of Myanmar's cuisine has also been contributed to by the myriad local ethnic minorities. The Bamars are the most dominant group, but other groups including the Chin people also have distinct cuisines.

Burmese cuisine is characterised by extensive use of fish products like fish sauce and ngapi (fermented seafood). Owing to the geographic location of Myanmar, Burmese cuisine has been influenced by Chinese cuisine, Indian cuisine and Thai cuisine.

Mohinga is the traditional breakfast dish and is Burma's national dish. Seafood is a common ingredient in coastal cities such as Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, Mawlamyaing (formerly Moulmein), Mergui (Myeik) and Dawei, while meat and poultry are more commonly used in landlocked cities like Mandalay. Freshwater fish and shrimp have been incorporated into inland cooking as a primary source of protein and are used in a variety of ways: fresh, salted whole or filleted, salted and dried, made into a salty paste, or fermented sour and pressed.

Burmese cuisine also includes a variety of salads (a thoke), centred on one major ingredient, ranging from starches like rice, wheat and rice noodles, glass noodles and vermicelli, to potato, ginger, tomato, kaffir lime, long bean, lahpet (pickled tea leaves), and ngapi (fish paste). These salads have always been popular as fast foods in Burmese cities.

A popular Burmese rhyme sums up the traditional favourites: "A thee ma, thayet; a thar ma, wet; a ywet ma, lahpet" (အသီးမှာသရက်၊ အသားမှာဝက်၊ အရွက်မှာလက်ဖက်။), translated as "Of all the fruit, the mango's the best; of all the meat, the pork's the best; and of all the leaves, lahpet's the best".

Eating customs

Traditionally, Burmese eat their meals from dishes on a low table, while sitting on a bamboo mat. Dishes are served simultaneously. A typical meal includes steamed rice as the main dish and accompanying dishes called hin, including a curried freshwater fish or dried/salted fish dish, a curried meat or poultry dish instead, a light soup called hin gyo (ဟင်းချို), called chinyay hin (ချဉ်ရည်ဟင်း) if sour, and fresh or boiled vegetables to go with a salty dish, almost invariably a curried sauce of pickled fish (ngapi yayjo) in Lower Burma. Fritters such as gourd or onions in batter as well as fish or dried tofu crackers are extra.

Out of respect, the eldest diners are always served first before the rest join in; even when the elders are absent, the first morsel of rice from the pot is scooped and put aside as an act of respect to one's parents, a custom known as u cha (ဦးချ, lit. first serve).

The Burmese eat with their right hand, forming the rice into a small ball with only the fingertips and mixing this with various morsels before popping it into their mouths. Chopsticks and Chinese-style spoons are used for noodle dishes, although noodle salads are more likely to be eaten with just a spoon. Knives and forks are used rarely in homes but will always be provided for guests and are available in restaurants and hotels. Drinks are not often served with the meal and, instead, the usual liquid accompaniment is in the form of a light broth or consomme served from a communal bowl. Outside of the meal, the Burmese beverage of choice is light green tea, yay nway gyan (ရေá€"ွေးကြမ်း).

Food theories

In traditional Burmese medicine, foods are divided into two classes: heating (အပူစာ, apu za) or cooling (အအေးစာ, a-aye za), based on their effects on one's body system, similar to the Chinese classification of food.

Examples of heating and cooling foods include:

• Heating foods:
  • chicken
  • bittermelon
  • durian
  • mango
  • chocolate
  • ice cream
• Cooling foods:
  • pork
  • eggplant
  • dairy products
  • cucumbers
  • radish

The Burmese also hold several taboos and superstitions regarding consumption during various occasions in one's life, especially pregnancy. For instance, pregnant women are not supposed to eat chili (for the belief that it causes children to have sparse scalp hairs).

Influences

The country's diverse religious makeup influences its cuisine, as Buddhists avoid beef and Muslims pork. Beef is considered taboo by devout Buddhists because the cow is highly regarded as a beast of burden. Vegetarian dishes are only common during the Buddhist Lent (Wa-dwin), a three-month Rains Retreat, as well as Uposatha sabbath days. During this time, only two meals (i.e. breakfast and lunch) are consumed before midday to observe the fasting rules (u bohk saunk) and abstinence from meat (thek that lut, literally 'free of killing') is observed by devout Buddhists. Throughout the rest of the year, many foods can be prepared vegetarian on request, but the bulk of Burmese food is prepared with fish or meat broth bases. Also, many of the several ethnic groups prepare at least one inherently vegetarian dish (notably cuisine from the Shan people).

The countries that border Myanmar, especially India, China and Thailand, have influenced Burmese cuisine. Indian influences are found in Burmese versions of dishes such as samosas and biryani, and Indian curries, spices and breads such as naan and paratha. Chitti kala (ချစ်တီးကုလား) or Chettiar (Southern Indian) cuisine is also popular in cities. Chinese influences in Burmese cuisine are shown in the use of ingredients like bean curd and soya sauce, various noodles as well as in stir frying techniques. As in neighbouring Thailand and Laos, fried insects are eaten as snacks.

Southern Myanmar, particularly the area around Mawlamyaing is known for its cuisine, as the Burmese proverb goes: "Mandalay for eloquence, Mawlamyaing for food, Yangon for boasting" (မá€"္တလေးစကား မော်လမြိုင်အစား ရá€"်ကုá€"်အကြွား).

Preparation

Burmese dishes are not cooked with precise recipes. The use and portion of ingredients used may vary, but the precision of timing is of utmost importance. One of the few remaining pre-colonial cookbooks is the Sadawset Kyan (စားတော်ဆက်ကျမ်း, lit. Treatise on Royal Foods), written on palm leaves in 1866 during the Konbaung dynasty.

Depending on the dish at hand, it may be roasted, stewed, boiled, fried, steamed, baked or grilled, or any combination of the said techniques. Burmese curries use only a handful of spices (in comparison to Indian ones) and use more garlic and ginger. Dishes are prepared with plenty of oil in the case of curries and soups, and the level of spices and herbs varies depending on the region; Kachin and Shan curries will often use more fresh herbs.

Ingredients

Ingredients used in Burmese dishes are often fresh. Many fruits are used in conjunction with vegetables in many dishes. The Burmese eat a great variety of vegetables and fruits, and all kinds of meat. A very popular vegetable is the danyin thi, which is usually boiled or roasted and dipped in salt, oil and sometimes, cooked coconut fat.

Starches

The most common starch (staple food) in Myanmar is white rice or htamin (á€'မင်း), which is served with accompanying meat dishes called hin (ဟင်း). Paw hsan hmwe (ပေါ်ဆá€"်းမွှေး), fragrant aroma rice is the most popular rice used in Burma and is rated as high as Thai jasmine rice or Basmati rice. Today, Myanmar is the world's sixth largest producer of rice, though in recent times less is exported and even domestic supplies cannot be guaranteed.

Glutinous rice, called kauk hnyin (ကောက်ညှင်း, from Shan kao niew ၶဝ်ႈၼဵဝ်) is also very popular. A purple variety known as nga cheik (ငချိတ်), is commonly a breakfast dish. Various noodle types are also used in salads and soups. Typically, vermicelli noodles and rice noodles are often used in soups, while thick rice and wheat noodles are used in salads. Palata (ပလာတာ), a flaky fried flatbread related to Indian paratha, is often eaten with curried meats while nan bya (á€"ံပြား), a baked flatbread is eaten with any Indian dishes. Another favourite is aloo poori (အာလူးပူရီ), puffed-up fried breads eaten with potato curry.

Ngapi

Ngapi (ငပိ), a paste made from salted, fermented fish or shrimp, is considered the cornerstone of any Burmese meal. It is used in a versatile manner in that it is used in soup base, in salads, in main dishes and also in condiments. Popular varieties depend on the region.

The ngapi of Rakhine State contains no or little salt, and uses marine fish. It is used as a soup base for the Rakhine 'national' cuisine, mont di (မုá€"့်တီ). It is also used widely in cooking vegetables, fish and even meat.

In the coastal Ayeyarwady and Tanintharyi divisions, the majority of ngapi is instead based on freshwater fish, with a lot of salt. Ngapi is also used as a condiment such as ngapi yay (ငပိရည်), an essential part of Karen cuisine, which includes runny ngapi, spices and boiled fresh vegetables. In Shan State, ngapi is made instead from fermented beans, and is used as both a flavouring and also condiment in Shan cuisine.

Condiments

Burmese cuisine is full of condiments, from sweet, sour to savoury. The most popular are pickled mango, balachaung (shrimp and ngapi floss) and ngapi gyaw (fried ngapi) and preserved vegetables in rice wine (from Shan State). Ngapi plays a major part in condiments, as a dip for fresh vegetables.

Fermented beans, called pè ngapi, from the Shan State plays a major role in Shan cuisine. Dried bean ngapi chips are used as condiments for various Shan dishes.

Another bean based condiment popular amongst the Bamar and the central dry region is Pone Yay Gyi - a thick salty black paste made from fermented soy beans. It is used in cooking, especially pork, and as a salad, with ground nut oil, chopped onions and red chili. Bagan is an important producer of Pone Yay Gyi.

Fruits

Myanmar has a wide range of fruits, and most are of tropical origin. However, some notable Western fruits such as strawberries are also popular. Durian, guava, and other fruits are commonly served as desserts. Other fruits include mango, banana, jackfruit, plum, lychee, papaya, pomelo, water melon, pomegranate, mangosteen, sugar-apple and rambutan.

Notable dishes

Because a standardised system of romanisation for spoken Burmese does not exist, pronunciations of the following dishes in modern standard Burmese approximated using IPA are provided (see IPA for Burmese for details).

• Gyin thohk (ဂျင်းသုပ်‌ [dÊ'ɪ́ɴ θoÊŠÊ"]), ginger salad with sesame seeds
• Khauk swè thoke (ခေါက်ဆွဲသုပ် [kÊ°aÊŠÊ"sÊ°wɛ́ θoÊŠÊ"]), wheat noodle salad with dried shrimps, shredded cabbage and carrots, dressed with fried peanut oil, fish sauce and lime
• Kat kyi hnyat (ကပ်ကြေးညှပ် [kaÊ"dÊ'íɲ̥aÊ"], lit. 'cut with scissors'), a southern coastal dish (from the Dawei area) of rice noodles with a variety of seafood, land meats, raw bean sprouts, beans and fried eggs, comparable to pad thai
• Let thohk sohn (လက်သုပ်စုံ [lÉ›Ê" θoÊŠÊ"sòʊɴ]), similar to htamin thohk with shredded green papaya, shredded carrot, ogonori sea moss and often wheat noodles
• Mohinga (မုá€"့်ဟင်းခါး [moÌ°ÊŠÉ´híŋɡá]), the unofficial national dish of rice vermicelli in fish broth with onions, garlic, ginger, lemon grass and sliced tender core of banana-stem, served with boiled eggs, fried fish cake (nga hpe) and fritters (akyaw)
• Mont let saung (Burmese: မုá€"့်လက်ဆောင်း [moÌ°unleÊ"sʰáʊɴ]), tapioca balls, glutinous rice, grated coconut and toasted sesame with jaggery syrup in coconut milk
• Nan gyi thohk (Burmese: á€"á€"်းကြီးသုပ် [náɲdÊ'í θoÊŠÊ"]) or Mont di, thick rice noodle salad with chickpea flour, chicken, fish cake (nga hpe), onions, coriander, spring onions, crushed dried chilli, dressed with fried crispy onion oil, fish sauce and lime
• Ohn-no khao swè (အုá€"်းá€"ို့ခေါက်ဆွဲ [Ê"óunnoÌ° kÊ°aÊŠÊ"sÊ°wɛ́]), curried chicken and wheat noodles in a coconut milk broth similar to Malaysian laksa and Chiang Mai's khao soi
• Sanwin makin (ဆá€"ွင်းမကင်း [sʰàɴwɪ́ɴ mÉ™kɪ́ɴ]), semolina cake with raisins, walnuts and poppy seeds
• Shwe gyi mohnt (ရွှေကြည်မုá€"့် [ʃwè dÊ'ì moÌ°ÊŠÉ´]), hardened semolina (wheat) porridge with poppy seeds
• Shwe yin aye (ရွှေရင်အေး [ʃwè jɪ̀ɴ Ê"é]), agar jelly, tapioca and sago in coconut milk
• Nga thalaut paung, a freshwater fish stewed in vinegar, soy sauce, tomatoes, and lemongrass

Chinese-inspired

• A sein kyaw, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, green beans, baby corn, cornflour or tapioca starch, tomatoes, squid sauce
• Hpet htohk (lit. leaf wrap), meat, pastry paper, ginger, garlic, pepper powder, and salt. Usually served with soup or noodles.
• Kyay oh (ကြေးအိုး [tʃé Ê"ó]), vermicelli noodles in soup with pork offal and greens
• Htamin jaw (á€'မင်းကြော် [tÊ°É™mɪ́ɴ tʃÉ"Ì€]), fried rice with boiled peas (pè byouk), the poor man's favourite breakfast, sometimes with meat, sausage, and eggs.
• Kawyei khao swè (ကော်ရည်ခေါက်ဆွဲ [kÉ"Ì€ jè kÊ°aÊŠÊ" sÊ°wɛ́]), noodles and curried duck (or pork) in broth with eggs.
• Mi swan (မီဆွမ် [mì sÊ°wàɴ]), very soft rice noodles, known as Mee suah in Singapore and Malaysia. It is a popular option for invalids, usually with chicken broth.
• Panthay khao swè (ပá€"်းသေးခေါက်ဆွဲ [pánθé kÊ°aÊŠÊ" sÊ°wɛ́]), halal noodles with chicken and spices, often served by the Muslim Panthay Chinese.
• San byohk (ဆá€"်ပြုတ် [sʰàmbjoÊŠÊ"]), rice congee with fish, chicken or duck often fed to invalids.
• Seejet khao swè (ဆီချက်ခေါက်ဆွဲ [sʰìdÊ'É›Ê" kÊ°aÊŠÊ" sÊ°wɛ́]), wheat noodles with duck or pork, fried garlic oil, soy sauce and chopped spring onions. It is considered an 'identity dish' of Myanmar and Burmese Chinese, as it is not available in other Chinese cuisines. Sarawak's Kolok mee is a bit similar.
• Wet Tha Dote Htoe, pork offal cooked in light soy sauce. Eaten with raw ginger and chili sauce.

Indian-inspired

• Danbauk (á€'á€"်ပေါက် [dàmbaÊŠÊ"]), Burmese-style biryani with either chicken or mutton served with mango pickle, fresh mint and green chili
• Fried chapati, crispy and blistered, with boiled peas (pé-byohk), a popular breakfast next to nan bya
• Halawa, a snack made of sticky rice, butter, coconut milk, from Indian dessert halwa. In Burma halwa is referred to a loose form, something like smashed potato, without baking into a hard or firmer cake in contrast to Sa-Nwin-Ma-Kin.
• Hpaluda, similar to the Indian dessert falooda, rose water, milk, jello, coconut jelly, coconut shavings, sometimes served with custard and ice cream
• Htat taya ([tÊ°aÊ" tÉ™jà]), lit. "a hundred layers", fried flaky multi-layered paratha with either a sprinkle of sugar or pè byouk
• Htawbat htamin, rice made with butter and mostly eaten with chicken curry
• Malaing lohn (မလိုင်လုံး [mÉ™làɪɴ lóʊɴ]), Burmese-style gulab jamun
• Nan bya (á€"ံပြား [nàmbjá]), Burmese-style naan buttered or with pè byouk, also with mutton soup
• Palata (ပလာတာ [pÉ™làtà]), Burmese-style paratha with egg or mutton
• Samusa (ဆမူဆာ [sÊ°É™mùsʰà]), Burmese-style samosa with mutton and onions served with fresh mint, green chilli, onions and lime
• Samusa thohk (ဆမူဆာသုပ် [sÊ°É™mùsʰà θoÊŠÊ"]), samosa salad with onions, cabbage, fresh mint, potato curry, masala, chili powder, salt and lime
• Theezohn chinyay, lit. vegetable all-sorts sour broth, with drumstick, lady's finger, eggplant, green beans, potato, onions, ginger, dried chilli, boiled egg, dried salted fish, fish paste and tamarind

Shan-inspired

• Htamin jin (á€'မင်းချဉ်‌ [tÊ°É™míɲdÊ'ɪ̀ɴ]), a rice, tomato and potato or fish salad kneaded into round balls dressed and garnished with crisp fried onion in oil, tamarind sauce, coriander and spring onions often with garlic, Chinese chives or roots (ju myit), fried whole dried chili, grilled dried fermented bean cakes (pé bouk} and fried dried topu (topu jauk kyaw) on the side
• Lahpet thohk (လက်ဖက်သုပ်) [lÉ™peÊ" θoÊŠÊ"]), a salad of pickled tea leaves with fried peas, peanuts and garlic, toasted sesame, fresh garlic, tomato, green chili, crushed dried shrimps, preserved ginger and dressed with peanut oil, fish sauce and lime
• Meeshay (မီးရှည် [míʃè]), rice noodles with pork or chicken, bean sprouts, rice flour gel, rice flour fritters, dressed with soy sauce, salted soybean, rice vinegar, fried peanut oil, chilli oil, and garnished with crisp fried onions, crushed garlic, coriander, and pickled white radish/mustard greens
• Papaya salad (သဘောင်္သီးသုပ် [θin bau θi θoÊŠÊ"])
• Shan tohu (ရှမ်းတိုဟူး [ʃáɴ tòhú]), a type of tofu made from chickpea flour or yellow split pea eaten as fritters (tohpu jaw) or in a salad (tohpu thohk), also eaten hot before it sets as tohu byawk aka tohu nway and as fried dried tohpu (tohu jauk kyaw)
• Shan khao swé (ရှမ်းခေါက်ဆွဲ [ʃáɴ kÊ°aÊŠÊ"swɛ́]), rice noodles with chicken or minced pork, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili, crushed roasted peanuts, young vine of mangetout, served with tohu jaw or tohu nway and pickled mustard greens (monnyinjin)
• Wet tha chin (ဝက်သားချဉ် [wÉ›Ê" θátʃʰɪ̀ɴ]), preserved minced pork in rice
• Wet tha hmyit chin (ဝက်သားမျှစ်ချဉ် [wÉ›Ê" θá mÌ¥jɪÊ" tʃʰɪ̀ɴ]), pork with pickled bamboo shoots

Mon-inspired

• Thingyan htamin (သင်္ကြá€"်á€'မင်း) - fully boiled rice in candle-smelt water served with mango salad
• Htamane (á€'မá€"ဲ) â€" dessert made from glutinous rice, shredded coconuts and peanuts
• Banana pudding â€" dessert made from banana boiled in coconut milk and sugar
• Wet mohinga â€" like mohinga but vermicelli is served while wet
• Durian jam â€" also known as Katut jam
• Nga baung thohk (ငါးပေါင်းá€'ုပ်) - Mixed vegetables and prawn, wrapped in morinda leaves and then banana leaves outside
• Sa-nwin makin (ဆá€"ွင်းမကင်း) â€" dessert cake made from semolina, sugar, butter, coconut

Rakhine(Arakanese)-inspired

• Mont di - an extremely popular and economical fast food dish where rice vermicelli are either eaten with some condiments and soup prepared from nga-pi, or as a salad with powdered fish and some condiments.
• Kya zan thohk - glass vermicelli salad with boiled prawn julienne and mashed curried duck eggs and potatoes.
• Ngapi daung - an extremely spicy condiment made from pounded ngapi and green chili
• Khayun thee nga chauk chet - aubergine cooked lightly with a small amount of oil, with dried fish and chilli
• Nga-pyaw-thi-bohn - bananas stewed in milk and coconut, and garnished with black sesame. Eaten either as a dish during meals, or as a dessert.
• Saw-hlaing mont - a baked sweet, made from millet, raisins, coconut and butter
• Sut-hnan - millet cooked in sweet milk with raisins

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Organic food is food produced by methods that comply with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming in general features practices that strive to cycle resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Organizations regulating organic products may restrict the use of certain pesticides and fertilizers in farming. In general, organic foods are also usually not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents or synthetic food additives.

Currently, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and many other countries require producers to obtain special certification in order to market food as organic within their borders. In the context of these regulations, organic food is produced in a way that complies with organic standards set by regional organizations, national governments and international organizations. Although the produce of kitchen gardens may be organic, selling food with an organic label is regulated by governmental food safety authorities, such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) or European Commission (EC).

There is not sufficient evidence in medical literature to support claims that organic food is safer or healthier than conventionally grown food. While there may be some differences in the nutrient and antinutrient contents of organically- and conventionally-produced food, the variable nature of food production and handling makes it difficult to generalize results. Claims that organic food tastes better are generally not supported by evidence.

Meaning and origin of the term

For the vast majority of its history, agriculture can be described as having been organic; only during the 20th century was a large supply of new products, generally deemed not organic, introduced into food production. The organic farming movement arose in the 1940s in response to the industrialization of agriculture.

In 1939, Lord Northbourne coined the term organic farming in his book Look to the Land (1940), out of his conception of "the farm as organism," to describe a holistic, ecologically balanced approach to farmingâ€"in contrast to what he called chemical farming, which relied on "imported fertility" and "cannot be self-sufficient nor an organic whole." Early soil scientists also described the differences in soil composition when animal manures were used as "organic", because they contain carbon compounds where superphosphates and haber process nitrogen do not. Their respective use affects humus content of soil. This is different from the scientific use of the term "organic" in chemistry, which refers to a class of molecules that contain carbon, especially those involved in the chemistry of life. This class of molecules includes everything likely to be considered edible, and include most pesticides and toxins too, therefore the term "organic" and, especially, the t erm "inorganic" (sometimes wrongly used as a contrast by the popular press) as they apply to organic chemistry is an equivocation fallacy when applied to farming, the production of food, and to foodstuffs themselves. Properly used in this agricultural science context, "organic" refers to the methods grown and processed, not necessarily the chemical composition of the food.

Ideas that organic food could be healthier and better for the environment originated in the early days of the organic movement as a result of publications like the 1943 book The Living Soil and Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease (1945).

Early consumers interested in organic food would look for non-chemically treated, non-use of unapproved pesticides, fresh or minimally processed food. They mostly had to buy directly from growers. Later, "Know your farmer, know your food" became the motto of a new initiative instituted by the USDA in September 2009. Personal definitions of what constituted "organic" were developed through firsthand experience: by talking to farmers, seeing farm conditions, and farming activities. Small farms grew vegetables (and raised livestock) using organic farming practices, with or without certification, and the individual consumer monitored. Small specialty health food stores and co-operatives were instrumental to bringing organic food to a wider audience. As demand for organic foods continued to increase, high volume sales through mass outlets such as supermarkets rapidly replaced the direct farmer connection. Today, many large corporate farms have an organic division. However, for supermar ket consumers, food production is not easily observable, and product labeling, like "certified organic," is relied upon. Government regulations and third-party inspectors are looked to for assurance.

In the 1970s, interest in organic food grew with the publication of Silent Spring and the rise of the environmental movement, and was also spurred by food-related health scares like the concerns about Alar that arose in the mid-1980s.

Legal definition

Organic food production is a self-regulated industry with government oversight in some countries, distinct from private gardening. Currently, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, and many other countries require producers to obtain special certification based on government-defined standards in order to market food as organic within their borders. In the context of these regulations, foods marketed as organic are produced in a way that complies with organic standards set by national governments and international organic industry trade organizations.

In the United States, organic production is managed in accordance with the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) and regulations in Title 7, Part 205 of the Code of Federal Regulations to respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. If livestock are involved, the livestock must be reared with regular access to pasture and without the routine use of antibiotics or growth hormones.

Processed organic food usually contains only organic ingredients. If non-organic ingredients are present, at least a certain percentage of the food's total plant and animal ingredients must be organic (95% in the United States, Canada, and Australia). Foods claiming to be organic must be free of artificial food additives, and are often processed with fewer artificial methods, materials and conditions, such as chemical ripening, food irradiation, and genetically modified ingredients. Pesticides are allowed as long as they are not synthetic. However, under US federal organic standards, if pests and weeds are not controllable through management practices, nor via organic pesticides and herbicides, "a substance included on the National List of synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production may be applied to prevent, suppress, or control pests, weeds, or diseases." Several groups have called for organic standards to prohibit nanotechnology on the basis of the precautio nary principle in light of unknown risks of nanotechnology. The use of nanotechnology-based products in the production of organic food is prohibited in some jurisdictions (Canada, the UK, and Australia) and is unregulated in others.

To be certified organic, products must be grown and manufactured in a manner that adheres to standards set by the country they are sold in:

• Australia: NASAA Organic Standard
• Canada:
• European Union: EU-Eco-regulation
  • Sweden: KRAV
  • United Kingdom: DEFRA
  • Poland: Association of Polish Ecology
  • Norway: Debio Organic certification
• India: NPOP, (National Program for Organic Production)
• Indonesia: BIOCert, run by Agricultural Ministry of Indonesia.
• Japan: JAS Standards
• Mexico: Consejo Nacional de Producción Orgánica, department of Sagarpa
• United States: National Organic Program (NOP) Standards

In the United States, there are four different levels or categories for organic labeling. 1)‘100%’ Organic: This means that all ingredients are produced organically. It also may have the USDA seal. 2)‘Organic’: At least 95% or more of the ingredients are organic. 3)’Made With Organic Ingredients': Contains at least 70% organic ingredients. 4)‘Less Than 70% Organic Ingredients’: Three of the organic ingredients must be listed under the ingredient section of the label. In the U.S., the food label "natural" or "all natural" does not mean that the food was produced and processed organically.

Public perception

There is widespread public belief that organic food is safer, more nutritious, and better tasting than conventional food, which has largely contributed to the development of an organic food culture. Consumers purchase organic foods for different reasons, including concerns about the effects of conventional farming practices on the environment, human health, and animal welfare.

The most important reason for purchasing organic foods seems to be beliefs about the products' health-giving properties and higher nutritional value. These beliefs are promoted by the organic food industry, and have fueled increased demand for organic food despite higher prices and difficulty in confirming these claimed benefits scientifically. Organic labels also stimulate the consumer to view the product as having more positive nutritional value.

Psychological effects such as the “halo” effect, which are related to the choice and consumption of organic food, are also important motivating factors in the purchase of organic food. The perception that organic food is low-calorie food or health food appears to be common.

In China the increasing demand for organic products of all kinds, and in particular milk, baby food and infant formula, has been "spurred by a series of food scares, the worst being the death of six children who had consumed baby formula laced with melamine" in 2009 and the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, making the Chinese market for organic milk the largest in the world as of 2014. A Pew Research Centre survey in 2012 indicated that 41% of Chinese consumers thought of food safety as a very big problem, up by three times from 12% in 2008.

Taste

There is no good evidence that organic food tastes better than its non-organic counterparts. There is evidence that some organic fruit is drier than conventionally grown fruit; a slightly drier fruit may also have a more intense flavor due to the higher concentration of flavoring substances.

Some foods, such as bananas, are picked when unripe, are cooled to prevent ripening while they are shipped to market, and then are induced to ripen quickly by exposing them to propylene or ethylene, chemicals produced by plants to induce their own ripening; as flavor and texture changes during ripening, this process may affect those qualities of the treated fruit. The issue of ethylene use to ripen fruit in organic food production is contentious because ripeness when picked often does affect taste; opponents claim that its use benefits only large companies and that it opens the door to weaker organic standards.

Chemical composition

With respect to chemical differences in the composition of organically grown food compared with conventionally grown food, studies have examined differences in nutrients, antinutrients, and pesticide residues. These studies generally suffer from confounding variables, and are difficult to generalize due to differences in the tests that were done, the methods of testing, and because the vagaries of agriculture affect the chemical composition of food; these variables include variations in weather (season to season as well as place to place); crop treatments (fertilizer, pesticide, etc.); soil composition; the cultivar used, and in the case of meat and dairy products, the parallel variables in animal production. Treatment of the foodstuffs after initial gathering (whether milk is pasteurized or raw), the length of time between harvest and analysis, as well as conditions of transport and storage, also affect the chemical composition of a given item of food. Additionally, there is evid ence that organic produce is drier than conventionally grown produce; a higher content in any chemical category may be explained by higher concentration rather than in absolute amounts.

Nutrients

Many people believe that organic foods have higher content of nutrients and thus are healthier than conventionally produced foods. However, scientists have not been equally convinced that this is the case as the research conducted in the field has not shown consistent results.

A 2009 systematic review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that organically produced foodstuffs are not richer in vitamins and minerals than conventionally produced foodstuffs. The results of the systematic review only showed a lower nitrogen and higher phosphorus content in organic produced compared to conventionally grown foodstuffs. Content of vitamin C, calcium, potassium, total soluble solids, copper, iron, nitrates, manganese, and sodium did not differ between the two categories.

A 2014 meta-analysis of 343 studies found that organically grown crops had 17% higher concentrations of polyphenols than conventionally grown crops. Concentrations of phenolic acids, flavanones, stilbenes, flavones, flavonols, and anthocyanins were elevated, with flavanones being 69% higher.

A 2012 survey of the scientific literature did not find significant differences in the vitamin content of organic and conventional plant or animal products, and found that results varied from study to study. Produce studies reported on ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) (31 studies), beta-carotene (a precursor for Vitamin A) (12 studies), and alpha-tocopherol (a form of Vitamin E) (5 studies) content; milk studies reported on beta-carotene (4 studies) and alpha-tocopherol levels (4 studies). Few studies examined vitamin content in meats, but these found no difference in beta-carotene in beef, alpha-tocopherol in pork or beef, or vitamin A (retinol) in beef. The authors analyzed 11 other nutrients reported in studies of produce. Only two nutrients were significantly higher in organic than conventional produce: phosphorus and total polyphenols). A 2011 literature review found that organic foods had a higher micronutrient content overall than conventionally produced foods.

Similarly, organic chicken contained higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than conventional chicken. The authors found no difference in the protein or fat content of organic and conventional raw milk.

A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis found that organic meat had comparable or slightly lower levels of saturated fat and monounsaturated fat as conventional meat, but higher levels of both overall and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Another meta-analysis published the same year found no significant differences in levels of saturated and monounsaturated fat between organic and conventional milk, but significantly higher levels of overall and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in organic milk than in conventional milk.

Anti-nutrients

The amount of nitrogen content in certain vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables and tubers, has been found to be lower when grown organically as compared to conventionally. When evaluating environmental toxins such as heavy metals, the USDA has noted that organically raised chicken may have lower arsenic levels. Early literature reviews found no significant evidence that levels of arsenic, cadmium or other heavy metals differed significantly between organic and conventional food products. However, a 2014 review found lower concentrations of cadmium, particularly in organically grown grains.

Pesticide residues

The amount of pesticides that remain in or on food is called pesticides residue. In the United States, before a pesticide can be used on a food crop, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must determine whether that pesticide can be used without posing a risk to human health.

A 2012 meta-analysis determined that detectable pesticide residues were found in 7% of organic produce samples and 38% of conventional produce samples. This result was statistically heterogeneous, potentially because of the variable level of detection used among these studies. Only three studies reported the prevalence of contamination exceeding maximum allowed limits; all were from the European Union. A 2014 meta-analysis found that conventionally grown produce was four times more likely to have pesticide residue than organically grown crops.

The American Cancer Society has stated that no evidence exists that the small amount of pesticide residue found on conventional foods will increase the risk of cancer, though it recommends thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables. They have also stated that there is no research to show that organic food reduces cancer risk compared to foods grown with conventional farming methods.

The Environmental Protection Agency maintains strict guidelines on the regulation of pesticides by setting a tolerance on the amount of pesticide residue allowed to be in or on any particular food. Although some residue may remain at the time of harvest, residue tend to decline as the pesticide breaks down over time. In addition, as the commodities are washed and processed prior to sale, the residues often diminish further.

Bacterial contamination

A 2012 meta-analysis determined that prevalence of E. coli contamination was not statistically significant (7% in organic produce and 6% in conventional produce). While bacterial contamination is common among both organic and conventional animal products, differences in the prevalence of bacterial contamination between organic and conventional animal products were also statistically insignificant.

Organic meat production requirements

United States

Organic meat certification in the United States requires farm animals to be raised according to USDA organic regulations throughout their lives. These regulations require that livestock are fed certified organic food that contains no animal byproducts. Further, organic farm animals can receive no growth hormones or antibiotics, and they must be raised using techniques that protect native species and other natural resources. Irradiation and genetic engineering are not allowed with organic animal production. One of the major differences in organic animal husbandry protocol is the "pasture rule": minimum requirements for time on pasture do vary somewhat by species and between the certifying agencies, but the common theme is to require as much time on pasture as possible and reasonable.

Health and safety

There is little scientific evidence of benefit or harm to human health from a diet high in organic food, and conducting any sort of rigorous experiment on the subject is very difficult. A 2012 meta-analysis noted that "there have been no long-term studies of health outcomes of populations consuming predominantly organic versus conventionally produced food controlling for socioeconomic factors; such studies would be expensive to conduct." A 2009 meta-analysis noted that "most of the included articles did not study direct human health outcomes. In ten of the included studies (83%), a primary outcome was the change in antioxidant activity. Antioxidant status and activity are useful biomarkers but do not directly equate to a health outcome. Of the remaining two articles, one recorded proxy-reported measures of atopic manifestations as its primary health outcome, whereas the other article examined the fatty acid composition of breast milk and implied possible health benefits for infant s from the consumption of different amounts of conjugated linoleic acids from breast milk." In addition, as discussed above, difficulties in accurately and meaningfully measuring chemical differences between organic and conventional food make it difficult to extrapolate health recommendations based solely on chemical analysis.

With regard to the possibility that some organic food may have higher levels of certain anti-oxidants, evidence regarding whether increased anti-oxidant consumption improves health is conflicting.

As of 2012, the scientific consensus is that while "consumers may choose to buy organic fruit, vegetables and meat because they believe them to be more nutritious than other food.... the balance of current scientific evidence does not support this view." A 12-month systematic review commissioned by the FSA in 2009 and conducted at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine based on 50 years' worth of collected evidence concluded that "there is no good evidence that consumption of organic food is beneficial to health in relation to nutrient content." There is no support in the scientific literature that the lower levels of nitrogen in certain organic vegetables translates to improved health risk.

Consumer safety

Pesticide exposure

The main difference between organic and conventional food products are the chemicals involved during production and processing. The residues of those chemicals in food products have dubious effects on the human health. All food products on the market including those that contain residues of pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones and other types of chemicals that are used during production and processing are said to be safe.

Claims of improved safety of organic food has largely focused on pesticide residues. These concerns are driven by the facts that "(1) acute, massive exposure to pesticides can cause significant adverse health effects; (2) food products have occasionally been contaminated with pesticides, which can result in acute toxicity; and (3) most, if not all, commercially purchased food contains trace amounts of agricultural pesticides." However, as is frequently noted in the scientific literature: "What does not follow from this, however, is that chronic exposure to the trace amounts of pesticides found in food results in demonstrable toxicity. This possibility is practically impossible to study and quantify;" therefore firm conclusions about the relative safety of organic foods have been hampered by the difficulty in proper study design and relatively small number of studies directly comparing organic food to conventional food.

Additionally, the Carcinogenic Potency Project, which is a part of the US EPA's Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) Database Network, has been systemically testing the carcinogenicity of chemicals, both natural and synthetic, and building a publicly available database of the results for the past ~30 years. Their work attempts to fill in the gaps in our scientific knowledge of the carcinogenicity of all chemicals, both natural and synthetic, as the scientists conducting the Project described in the journal, Science, in 1992:

Toxicological examination of synthetic chemicals, without similar examination of chemicals that occur naturally, has resulted in an imbalance in both the data on and the perception of chemical carcinogens. Three points that we have discussed indicate that comparisons should be made with natural as well as synthetic chemicals.

1) The vast proportion of chemicals that humans are exposed to occur naturally. Nevertheless, the public tends to view chemicals as only synthetic and to think of synthetic chemicals as toxic despite the fact that every natural chemical is also toxic at some dose. The daily average exposure of Americans to burnt material in the diet is ~2000 mg, and exposure to natural pesticides (the chemicals that plants produce to defend themselves) is ~1500 mg. In comparison, the total daily exposure to all synthetic pesticide residues combined is ~0.09 mg. Thus, we estimate that 99.99% of the pesticides humans ingest are natural. Despite this enormously greater exposure to natural chemicals, 79% (378 out of 479) of the chemicals tested for carcinogenicity in both rats and mice are synthetic (that is, do not occur naturally).
2) It has often been wrongly assumed that humans have evolved defenses against the natural chemicals in our diet but not against the synthetic chemicals. However, defenses that animals have evolved are mostly general rather than specific for particular chemicals; moreover, defenses are generally inducible and therefore protect well from low doses of both synthetic and natural chemicals.

3) Because the toxicology of natural and synthetic chemicals is similar, one expects (and finds) a similar positivity rate for carcinogenicity among synthetic and natural chemicals. The positivity rate among chemicals tested in rats and mice is ~50%. Therefore, because humans are exposed to so many more natural than synthetic chemicals (by weight and by number), humans are exposed to an enormous background of rodent carcinogens, as defined by high-dose tests on rodents. We have shown that even though only a tiny proportion of natural pesticides in plant foods have been tested, the 29 that are rodent carcinogens among the 57 tested, occur in more than 50 common plant foods. It is probable that almost every fruit and vegetable in the supermarket contains natural pesticides that are rodent carcinogens.

While studies have shown via chemical analysis, as discussed above, that organically grown fruits and vegetables have significantly lower pesticide residue levels, the significance of this finding on actual health risk reduction is debatable as both conventional foods and organic foods generally have pesticide levels well below government established guidelines for what is considered safe. This view has been echoed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the UK Food Standards Agency.

A study published by the National Research Council in 1993 determined that for infants and children, the major source of exposure to pesticides is through diet. A study published in 2006 by Lu et al. measured the levels of organophosphorus pesticide exposure in 23 school children before and after replacing their diet with organic food. In this study it was found that levels of organophosphorus pesticide exposure dropped from negligible levels to undetectable levels when the children switched to an organic diet, the authors presented this reduction as a significant reduction in risk. The conclusions presented in Lu et al. were criticized in the literature as a case of bad scientific communication.

More specifically, claims related to pesticide residue of increased risk of infertility or lower sperm counts have not been supported by the evidence in the medical literature. Likewise the American Cancer Society (ACS) has stated their official position that "whether organic foods carry a lower risk of cancer because they are less likely to be contaminated by compounds that might cause cancer is largely unknown." Reviews have noted that the risks from microbiological sources or natural toxins are likely to be much more significant than short term or chronic risks from pesticide residues.

Microbiological contamination

In looking at possible increased risk to safety from organic food consumption, reviews have found that although there may be increased risk from microbiological contamination due to increased manure use as fertilizer from organisms like E. coli O157:H7 during organic produce production, there is little evidence of actual incidence of outbreaks which can be positively blamed on organic food production. The 2011 Germany E. coli O104:H4 outbreak was blamed on organic farming of bean sprouts.

Economics

Demand for organic foods is primarily driven by concerns for personal health and for the environment. Global sales for organic foods climbed by more than 170 percent since 2002 reaching more than $63 billion in 2011 while certified organic farmland remained relatively small at less than 2 percent of total farmland under production, increasing in OECD and EU countries (which account for the majority of organic production) by 35 percent for the same time period. Organic products typically cost 10 to 40% more than similar conventionally produced products, to several times the price. Processed organic foods vary in price when compared to their conventional counterparts.

While organic food accounts for 1â€"2% of total food production worldwide, the organic food sales market is growing rapidly with between 5 and 10 percent of the food market share in the United States according to the Organic Trade Association, significantly outpacing sales growth volume in dollars of conventional food products. World organic food sales jumped from US $23 billion in 2002 to $63 billion in 2011.

Asia

Production and consumption of organic products is rising rapidly in Asia, and both China and India are becoming global producers of organic crops and a number of countries, particularly China and Japan, also becoming large consumers of organic food and drink. The disparity between production and demand, is leading to a two-tier organic food industry, typified by significant and growing imports of primary organic products such as dairy and beef from Australia, Europe, New Zealand and the United States.

China

• China’s domestic organic market is the fourth largest in the world. The Chinese Organic Food Development Center estimated domestic sales of organic food products to be around US$500 million per annum as of 2013. This is predicted to increase by 30 percent to 50 percent in 2014. As of 2015, organic foods made up about 1% of the total Chinese food market.

• China is the world’s biggest infant formula market with $12.4 billion in sales annually; of this, organic infant formula and baby food accounted for approximately 5.5 per cent of sales in 2011. Australian organic infant formula and baby food producer Bellamy's Organic have reported that their sales in this market grew 70 per cent annually over the period 2008-2013, while Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia, reported that exports of long-life organic milk to China had grown by 20 to 30 per cent per year over the same period.

Japan

• In 2010, the Japanese organic market was estimated to be around $1.3 billion.

North America

United States

• In 2012 the total size of the organic food market in the United States was about $30 billion (out of the total market for organic and natural consumer products being about $81 billion)

• Organic food is the fastest growing sector of the American food industry.

• Organic food sales have grown by 17 to 20 percent a year in the early 2000s while sales of conventional food have grown only about 2 to 3 percent a year. The US organic market grew 9.5% in 2011, breaking the $30bn barrier for the first time, and continued to outpace sales of non-organic food.

• In 2003 organic products were available in nearly 20,000 natural food stores and 73% of conventional grocery stores.

• Organic products accounted for 3.7% of total food and beverage sales, and 11.4% of all fruit and vegetable sales in the year 2009.

• As of 2003, two thirds of organic milk and cream and half of organic cheese and yogurt are sold through conventional supermarkets.

• As of 2012, most independent organic food processors in the USA had been acquired by multinational firms.

• In order for a product to become USDA organic certified, the farmer cannot plant genetically modified seeds and livestock cannot eat genetically modified plants. Farmers must provide substantial evidence showing there was no genetic modification involved in the operation.

Canada

• Organic food sales surpassed $1 billion in 2006, accounting for 0.9% of food sales in Canada. By 2012, Canadian organic food sales reached $3 billion.
• Organic food sales by grocery stores were 28% higher in 2006 than in 2005.
• British Columbians account for 13% of the Canadian population, but purchased 26% of the organic food sold in Canada in 2006.

Europe

Denmark

• In 2012, organic products accounted for 7.8% of the total retail consumption market in Denmark, the highest national market share in the world. Many public institutions have voluntarily committed themselves to buy some organic food and in Copenhagen 75 % of all food served in public institutions is organic. A governmental action plan initiated in 2012-2014 aims at 60 % organic food in all public institutions across the country before 2020.
• In 1987, the first Danish Action Plan was implemented which was meant to support and stimulate farmers to switch from conventional food production systems to organic ones . Since then Denmark has constantly worked on further developing the market by promoting organic food and keeping prices low in comparison to conventional food products by offering farmers subvention and extra support if they choose to produce organic food. Then and even today is the bench mark for organic food policy and certification of organic food in the whole world. The new European Organic food label and organic food policy was developed based on the 1987 Danish Model.

Austria

• In 2011, 7.4% of all food products sold in Austrian supermarkets (including discount stores) were organic. In 2007, 8,000 different organic products were available.

Italy

• Since 2000, the use of some organic food is compulsory in Italian schools and hospitals. A 2002 law of the Emilia Romagna region implemented in 2005, explicitly requires that the food in nursery and primary schools (from 3 months to 10 years) must be 100% organic, and the food in meals at schools, universities and hospitals must be at least 35% organic.

Poland

• In 2005 7 percent of Polish consumers buy food that was produced according to the EU-Eco-regulation. The value of the organic market is estimated at 50 million euros (2006).

Romania

• 70%â€"80% of the local organic production, amounting to 100 million euros in 2010, is exported. The organic products market grew to 50 million euros in 2010.

Switzerland

• As of 2012, 11 per cent of Swiss farms are organic. Bio Suisse, the Swiss organic producers' association, provides guidelines for organic farmers.

Ukraine

• In 2009 Ukraine was in 21st place in the world by area under cultivation of organic food. Much of its production of organic food is exported and not enough organic food is available on the national market to satisfy the rapidly increasing demand. The size of the internal market demand for organic products in Ukraine was estimated at over 5 billion euros in 2011, with rapid growth projected for this segment in the future. Multiple surveys show that the majority of the population of Ukraine is willing to pay more to buy organic food. On the other hand, many Ukrainians have traditionally maintained their own garden plots, and this may result in underestimation of how much organically produced food is actually consumed in Ukraine.

• The Law on Organic Production was passed by Ukraine's parliament in April 2011, which in addition to traditional demands for certified organic food also banned the use of GMOs or any products containing GMOs. However, the law was not signed by the President of Ukraine and in September 2011 it was repealed by the Verkhovna Rada itself. Attempts to pass a new law on organic food production took place throughout 2012.

United Kingdom

• Organic food sales increased from just over £100 million in 1993/94 to £1.21 billion in 2004 (an 11% increase on 2003). In 2010, the UK sales of organic products fell 5.9% to £1.73 billion. 86% of households buy organic products, the most popular categories being dairies (30.5% of sales) and fresh fruits and vegetables (23.2% of sales). 4.2% of UK farmland is organically managed.

Latin America

Cuba

• After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, agricultural inputs that had previously been purchased from Eastern bloc countries were no longer available in Cuba, and many Cuban farms converted to organic methods out of necessity. Consequently, organic agriculture is a mainstream practice in Cuba, while it remains an alternative practice in most other countries. Although some products called organic in Cuba would not satisfy certification requirements in other countries (crops may be genetically modified, for example), Cuba exports organic citrus and citrus juices to EU markets that meet EU organic standards. Cuba's forced conversion to organic methods may position the country to be a global supplier of organic products.

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