The Level of Adherence to Organic Food Consumption and Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The available literature reports inconclusive findings regarding the frequency of organic food consumption and cancer incidence. This systematic review evaluated the effect of the frequency of organic food consumption on overall and site-specific cancer risk. Four electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, and Embase), the gray literature, and the reference lists of the included reports were searched for eligible studies. Study screening, data abstraction, and risk of bias assessment were performed by two independent examiners. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals using a random effects model were utilized to synthesize the available data from the included studies. There was no difference between the two interventions regarding overall cancer (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.78-1.12), breast cancer (HR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.81-1.26), colorectal cancer (HR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.93-1.10), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma risks (HR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.17-2.94). The findings suggest that the overall and site-specific cancer risk are not associated with the frequency of consumption of organic foods. Further research is necessary to provide more evidence for the role of organic food consumption on the incidence of cancer using homogeneous methodologies to define the frequency of organic food consumption.