In recent years, the supply and consumption of organic foods, especially in developed countries, have steadily increased [1, 2]. A key reason for the increase in demand is the perception that organic food is healthier, more sustainable, and more environmentally friendly than conventionally produced food [3, 4]. Key principles of organic farming and food production include a near prohibition of chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, restricted use of antibiotics in animals, bans on genetically modified organisms, and a focus on crop rotation, as opposed to conventional farming and food production [5].

In several observational studies, increased consumption of organic food has been associated with lower risks of obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Its positive effect on health could be related to increased intake of secondary plant metabolites and lower exposure to synthetic pesticide residues as compared to conventionally grown food products [11, 12, 13, 14]. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified various pesticides commonly used in conventional food production as possibly or probably carcinogenic in humans [15, 16]. A recent study of a 40-day organic food treatment in Greek primary-school children showed that organic food intake reduced metal exposure and oxidative damage of biomarkers, such as urinary lead concentration, over time [17, 18]. However, the mechanisms underlying these results have not been extensively studied; to complicate matters, organic food consumption is highly correlated with several other health-related indicators of a healthy lifestyle [19]. Currently, there are not enough long-term clinical intervention studies to determine whether an organic diet is healthier than a diet based on conventionally grown foods [6, 14, 20].

Increased consumption of organic foods offers multiple environmental benefits in addition to potential human health benefits. It may reduce the environmental impact of agricultural practices and preserve biodiversity [21]. Organic food consumption could also increase diet sustainability by encouraging the purchase of local and seasonal products [22].

These are all compelling reasons for public health authorities to consider integrating the promotion of organic food consumption into their nutrition strategies. However, targeted and efficient strategies only emerge when we can understand specific consumption patterns and identify vulnerable population subgroups. Efforts to better understand these consumption patterns have recently been made in several countries. In France, Denmark, Germany, and the US, studies have shown that individuals with higher educational levels, higher incomes, healthier lifestyles, better overall diet quality, and more in-depth nutritional knowledge show higher consumption of organic food products [23, 24, 25, 26, 27]. Evidence from the Swiss context shows an increase in consumer purchasing of organic food products in recent decades [28, 29]. The Biobarometer, a representative online survey conducted every two years since 2018, provides information on organic food consumption behaviour in the French- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland [30, 31]. It has shown that the proportion of respondents with a high level of organic food consumption (i.e., several times a week to daily) almost doubled from 2018 to 2020 and has remained stable at a high level since then (2018: 24%, 2020: 47%, 2022: 49%). This substantial increase is probably related to the COVID-19 pandemic and to a growing social awareness of sustainable food production [31].

In addition to motives for and barriers to organic food purchasing, the Biobarometer asks about the estimated frequency of current and future consumption of organic food (excluding consumption in restaurants, canteens, and takeaways). However, the respondents do not disclose any information about the amount of food consumed, which is also a weakness of other studies. Moreover, the survey only estimates consumption frequency, without providing detailed information on the individual foods consumed. This is relevant because organic food consumption is known to be often overestimated due to a discrepancy between what people consider to be organic food and what is actually organically produced according to guidelines [31]. The first national nutrition survey, menuCH, lends itself to analysis of organic food consumption in Switzerland, as it collected detailed individual and nationally representative dietary data, as well as information on food brands and bio-labels. All foods, including those consumed away from home, were covered. Furthermore, the menuCH survey also included the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, which allows comparisons between the country’s three main language regions. By examining the consumption of organic food in Switzerland using this comprehensive dietary data, this study aims to provide new information on this topic. Our objective was to gain a comprehensive understanding of organic food consumption in Switzerland and to identify associated sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle factors and related underlying dietary patterns. Data of the menuCH survey will allow for quantifying the amount of organic food consumption.

To report the findings of the present study, the “Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology–Nutritional Epidemiology (STROBE-nut)” checklist was used [32].

The present study identified 27.8% of the Swiss population as consumers of organic food. The food groups “Fruits, nuts and seeds”, “Milk and dairy products”, and “Non-alcoholic beverages” contributed the most to the total consumption of organic food. Organic food consumption was significantly positively associated with female sex, middle age, German-speaking living area, Swiss nationality, higher educational degree, smaller household size, normal body weight, and higher diet quality.

Our results on the proportion of organic food consumers differ from those of other studies. Most previously published studies have reported the frequency of organic food consumption, limiting comparison with our analysis. According to results of the German National Nutrition Survey from 2005–2006, 44.9% stated that they purchased organic food [46]. In a large prospective study from the UK (only women, survey conducted 3 years after recruitment in 1996–2001), 30% reported never, 63% reported sometimes, and 7% reported usually or always consuming organic food [7]. A Danish cross-sectional study from 1999–2002 calculated an overall organic food score based on consumption frequency information: 15% of the study participants reported never consuming organic foods, 76% had a low-to-medium consumption, and 10% had a high consumption [46]. Data from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort study revealed that 34% of women and 42% of men did not consume organic foods, that 52% of women and 48% of men occasionally consumed organic foods, and that 15% of women and 11% of men regularly consumed organic foods [27].

Overall, the comparability of the proportions of organic food consumers between different studies is quite limited due to methodological differences and changes over time. While most previous studies have relied on purchase data or yearly self-reported estimations, menuCH data provide an accurate measure of food consumption due to its two 24HDRs. However, our study only allows us to draw limited conclusions about the regularity or frequency of organic food consumption. We cannot rule out the possibility of underestimating organic food consumption due to the limited assessment of dietary information over only two days. On the other hand, in studies relying on self-reported estimations, lack of knowledge about bio-labels [31] and social desirability may influence self-reported dietary information, leading to an overestimation of organic food consumption [47]. Therefore, comparing our results with the above-mentioned studies remains difficult. Despite these uncertainties, the present study provides additional information on the quantity of organic food consumption and on different sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle factors associated with organic food consumption in Switzerland.

In this study, an average of about 1.0% of all foods consumed met organic standards. Within the group of organic food consumers, this proportion was 3.6%. These proportions seem comparatively low, although most of the previous studies do not provide information about percentages of organic foods consumed on the overall diet. The only somewhat comparable study, French NutriNet-Santé, reported organic food to have a share in the whole diet of 18% in men and 20% in women [23].

The food groups “Fruits, nuts and seeds”, “Milk and dairy products”, and “Non-alcoholic beverages” contributed the most to the total amount and number of organic foods consumed. “Vegetables” and “Cereals” also showed relatively high shares. Food groups such as “Meat and meat products”, “Fish and seafood”, and “Eggs and egg products” contributed little to overall organic food consumption. Our results are similar to those of the Household and Retail Panel from NielsenIQ Switzerland. The product group “Fresh vegetables and potatoes” had the largest share of total organic food sales in the Swiss retail sector, followed by “Cereals and bakery products” and “Milk and dairy products” [29]. Within the individual food groups, by far the highest organic share was observed in the group “Eggs and egg products” (19.2%). These findings are in line with the French NutriNet-Santé study’s observation that eggs were consumed as organic by 52% of women and 40% of men [23]. A Danish study showed similar results, reporting that the food group “Egg” was always consumed organically the most (22%), whereas the food group “Meat” was always consumed organically the least (2%) [46]. Our results also agree with the findings of the Swiss Household and Retail Panel, in which the product group “Eggs” has the second highest organic sales share (28.7%) after the absolute leader, the “Baby food” product category (55.9%) [29]. In principle, our findings are in line with those of the French study [23], which states that the contribution of organic food to the diet was higher for products of plant origin than for products of animal origin. Also in line with the French study, we found exceptions in the consumption of “Eggs and egg products”, even though these contributed comparatively little to the overall diet, and the consumption of “Milk and dairy products”.

In our study, participants of female sex, middle age, German-speaking living area, Swiss nationality, higher educational degree, smaller household size, normal body weight, and higher diet quality had significantly higher odds of organic food consumption. In general, these results are consistent with those seen in other populations in studies reporting organic food consumption to be associated with being female, having a generally healthier lifestyle, and adopting more favourable dietary habits [24, 26, 46, 48].

We found significantly lower organic food consumption in the French-speaking region compared to the German-speaking region of Switzerland. One explanation for this could be the culturally different dietary habits of people living in the different language regions of Switzerland [41]. However, an association between language region and organic food consumption was not observed by the Biobarometer [30]. Considering the living area, several studies have reported higher proportions of organic food consumers among people living in urban compared to rural areas [30, 48]. However, some studies have found higher organic food consumption in rural areas [23]. Information about the place of residence was unfortunately not available in the menuCH data.

Surprisingly, household income was not significantly associated with organic food consumption in our study. This finding differs from other studies that have described a significant association between income and the consumption of organic food [23, 27, 30]. This association is plausible if we consider that access to food is often related to economic power, inequality, discrimination, and social status [49], resulting in some people having more difficulties in accessing healthy diets than others. According to the Biobarometer 2022, the biggest barrier to buying organic food is its higher price [29, 30]. Currently, in Switzerland, organic foods cost on average about 1.5 times more than conventionally produced food [50]. However, information about household income in the menuCH data is of poor quality with many missing values. Moreover, other variables in the multivariate model that are indirectly related to income showed significant results. A high educational level, which is usually positively associated with income, was associated with higher chance of organic food consumption. Furthermore, some studies have shown that organic food consumption correlates more with education level than with income [24]. In addition, larger household size, which could result in less money per capita being available for purchasing food, was found to be associated with lower odds of organic food consumption. The hypothesis that the larger the household, the less organic products are consumed, is further supported by the result that single persons have significantly higher organic food consumption than do married or divorced persons.

Regarding dietary habits, we found higher organic food consumption among individuals with vegetarian diets. Furthermore, we observed a strong association between overall diet quality and organic food consumption. These findings are in line with other studies [23, 24, 26, 48]. It should be noted that a previous analysis of menuCH data found higher scores for diet quality to correlate with female sex, older age, normal body weight, tertiary educational level, and higher physical activity [41]. Most of these variables also correlate with organic food consumption. Nevertheless, the multivariate model, which was adjusted for potential confounding factors, showed a strong association between diet quality and organic food consumption. Beyond dietary habits, our study results confirmed previous studies’ findings, reporting that organic food consumption is associated with a more favourable lifestyle [46, 48]. However, smoking status and physical activity level were not significantly associated with organic food consumption in our regression model.

It is not yet clear whether the consumption of organic food brings effective health benefits or whether healthy individuals are more prone to consume organic food due to their higher opportunities and resources (e.g., good education and high income). Organic food consumers appear to be making healthier food choices, thereby positively influencing their own health, and through their demand for organically produced food, they also promote organic agriculture and thus contribute to sustainable nutrition and the preservation of biodiversity [49]. Despite this, further research on the potential beneficial effects of organic diets on human health is needed. Comprehensive intervention studies should be conducted to elucidate whether a diet rich in organic foods is more favourable for health than a diet rich in conventionally grown foods. In particular, future studies should focus on the mechanisms underlying the potential beneficial effects of organic foods consumption and on the discovery of factors potentially responsible for these protective mechanisms. Aspects such as intake of synthetic pesticides, intake of secondary plants metabolites, and plant microbiome could be considered. In addition, a differentiated analysis by food group is relevant for future studies investigating the health effects of organic foods, since health effects are likely to differ due to different cultivation or manufacturing practices (e.g., of plant versus animal foods) [46].

This study was conducted using data from the first national nutrition survey in Switzerland, menuCH, conducted between 2014 and 2015. Until now, individual consumption of organic food has never been investigated in Switzerland using detailed and comprehensive dietary data. The present analysis complements the existing data on organic food consumption in Switzerland. Among other aspects, the Biobarometer aims to identify the frequency of consumption, asking about the currently estimated frequency of organic food consumption. The menuCH data complement the Biobarometer data, providing a comprehensive assessment of organic food consumption, including detailed data on all foods consumed (including at restaurants, canteens, takeaways), information on food brands and bio-labels, as well as portion sizes. This allowed for categorizing the foods considering organic food production guidelines rather than the consumers’ perception of what is considered organic foods, which are known to differ [31]. In addition, these detailed dietary data have enabled us to determine the proportions of organic food consumption in the various food groups. Besides the analysis of various food groups, the menuCH data allow for linkage to other dietary habits and the consideration of further sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle characteristics. Switzerland provides a unique setting to investigate cultural influences on organic food consumption. The three main language regions have distinct cultures and documented differences in dietary habits [33, 41], which are influenced by their respective neighbouring countries. Nevertheless, they share common national health policies and a national health care system. Compared to the Biobarometer, which covers only the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, the menuCH survey includes the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland and therefore allows a comparison of the three main language regions.

As mentioned above, a major limitation is the uncertainty of classifying organic food consumers, potentially leading to misclassification. The menuCH survey did not systematically collect information on the organic status of food, and the limited assessment of dietary information based on only two 24HDRs may lead to an underestimation of the consumption of organically produced food. As in any observational study relying on self-reported measures for dietary assessment, recall bias and potential under- or over-reporting cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, despite weighting strategies, selection bias cannot be excluded, as respondents to health surveys tend to have higher levels of health consciousness compared to the general population. Another limitation lies in the cross-sectional design of the menuCH survey. It is only possible to identify factors that are associated with higher organic food consumption. In addition, residual confounding in multivariate analysis could not be excluded, although important covariates were included in the analysis as adjusting factors. Finally, it should be mentioned that the menuCH survey was conducted several years ago, while the availability and consumption of organic food has been steadily increasing in recent years [28]. Therefore, the present results are comparable only to a limited extent with other more recent studies.

Our study contributes to a better understanding of organic food consumption in Switzerland. Despite its aforementioned methodological and survey limitations, its results show how organic food consumption is distributed within the Swiss population and which population groups consume particularly little organically produced food. Swiss public health authorities can use this study’s results—together with the results of other studies such as the Biobarometer, which assesses the frequency of organic food consumption—to develop tailored nutritional interventions such as guidelines, information campaigns, marketing strategies, and subsidies where needed most. Improved knowledge about organic food and organic food labels within the identified subpopulations seems important in promoting organic food consumption [29]. A higher consumption of organic food products would favour organic agriculture and farming and boost diet sustainability and biodiversity in Switzerland [49]. Furthermore, in the long term, a higher consumption of organic food products might lead to a decrease in chronic disease morbidity and mortality [11, 12]. Further research is needed to fully understand the potential beneficial effects of organic diets on human health, including their underlying protective mechanisms, and to determine whether the relationships are causal [14]. Future studies examining the relationship between organic food consumption and health should build on previous findings and consider that lifestyle factors strongly correlate not only with organic food consumption but also with the incidence of non-communicable diseases.

The entire menuCH dataset and relevant documents (questionnaires, weighting strategy) are available upon request in the data repository: menuch.unisante.ch.

Conceptualization: SR, GP, IM. Formal Analysis: IM, GP, FS. Investigation: IM and GP. Supervision: GP and SR. Writing Original Draft Preparation: IM. Writing Review and Editing: IM, GP, SR, FS. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. All authors have participated sufficiently in the work and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

The survey protocol of the menuCH study was approved by the ethics committee of the city of Lausanne and by the corresponding regional ethics committees (lead committee in Lausanne, Protocol 26/13, approved on 12 February 2013). All procedures performed in the survey followed the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki, and all participants provided written informed consent.

This research received no external funding.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at https://doi.org/10.31083/IJVNR39946.