NY Times Exposes Lies About Organic Food
on ABC's Infamous "20/20" Broadcast

July 31, 2000
Report on Organic Foods Is Challenged
By JIM RUTENBERG
New York Times

On Feb. 4, the ABC News correspondent John Stossel hosted a report on
"20/20" that probably surprised many viewers. It made the case that organic
food is not necessarily healthier than conventional food -- and might
actually be dangerous.

Citing research he said was commissioned by ABC News, Mr. Stossel said that
organic food seemed more likely than conventional food to be contaminated
by E. coli bacteria. He also said that conventional produce does not
necessarily have more pesticide residue than organic produce, contradicting
one of organic food's primary selling points.
"Our tests, surprisingly, found no pesticide residue on the conventional
samples or the organic," he said in the report.

But the two researchers who were commissioned to do the testing -- Dr.
Michael Doyle, a scientist with the University of Georgia, and Dr. Lester
Crawford, director of Georgetown University's Center for Food and Nutrition
Policy -- said they never tested produce for pesticide residue for ABC. ABC
executives are now looking into whether the statement about produce, a key
premise on which Mr. Stossel built his case, was made without any basis in
fact.
"All I agreed to do was test for indications of pathogens," Dr. Doyle said.
"I didn't do tests for pesticides."
Dr. Crawford said that while he did not test produce for pesticides, he did
test chicken -- and found residue on the samples of conventional poultry
but not on samples of organic poultry. Those findings were not mentioned in
Mr. Stossel's report.
The doctors' denials were first brought to light by the Environmental
Working Group, which supports the consumption of organic produce. Members
talked to the doctors after the report. In a letter to Mr. Stossel, the
group asked for an explanation.

The producer of the segment, David W. Fitzpatrick, responded in a letter by
saying that the pesticide tests were done and that the results had been
forwarded to the Organic Trade Association, a group that spoke in defense
of organic produce in the segment. The executive director of the
association, Katherine T. DiMatteo, said Friday that the organization had
not received results from any tests for pesticide residue on produce.
Despite being told by the environmentalists of the doctors' denials, ABC
showed the report again on July 7. During an on-the-air conversation with
Cynthia McFadden, a "20/20" anchorwoman, Mr. Stossel said, "It's logical to
worry about pesticide residues, but in our tests, we found none on either
organic or regular produce."

Last week, ABC News executives still could not address the questions raised
in February. They, at first said pesticide tests were performed on produce
by Dr. Crawford. Told that Dr. Crawford maintains he did not do such
testing, they later released a statement saying they would look into the
matter and "if a mistake was made, we will correct it." Mr. Stossel had no
comment and Mr. Fitzpatrick was on assignment in Africa and unavailable.