現(xiàn)在人們越來越青睞有機食品，但英國一項研究顯示，鳥兒在選擇食物的時候并不偏愛有機食品，反而更喜歡吃那些施化肥種植的小麥。

英國紐卡斯爾大學研究人員在新一期《糧食和農(nóng)業(yè)科學雜志》上報告說，他們進行了為期三年的實驗，在冬天鳥兒不易找到食物的時候，在幾個公園設(shè)置了幾十個喂食點，每個喂食點都有兩個相鄰且外觀相同的喂食裝置，內(nèi)裝相同品種的小麥，區(qū)別在于一個裝置里面是通過有機方式種植的小麥，而另一個裝置里面是施化肥種植的非有機小麥。

結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，鳥兒更喜歡吃那些非有機小麥。實驗一段時間后，研究人員還互換了兩種小麥的位置，不過鳥兒很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個變化，仍然更多地食用非有機小麥。此外，在實驗室中喂養(yǎng)的金絲雀也表現(xiàn)出同樣的擇食傾向。

研究人員分析認為，施用含氮元素的化肥后，小麥粒中的蛋白質(zhì)含量比有機小麥平均高10％，而對于在冬天不易找到食物的鳥兒來說，補充蛋白質(zhì)非常重要。

參與這一研究的麥肯齊博士說，研究結(jié)果表明，認為有機食品更好的觀點未必總是正確，雖然這項研究沒有涵蓋非有機食品中化肥和農(nóng)藥殘余物的長期影響等問題，但它的確說明非有機食品在營養(yǎng)上也有其優(yōu)點。

現(xiàn)在的有機食品一般指用天然種植或飼養(yǎng)方式得到的食品，這類食品在生產(chǎn)和加工過程中嚴格遵守相關(guān)標準，禁止使用化學合成的農(nóng)藥、化肥、激素、抗生素、添加劑等。

上海勁馬生物（）推薦原文出處：

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture  doi：10.1002/jsfa.4025

Birds select conventional over organic wheat when given free choice
Ailsa J McKenzie *, Mark J Whittingham

School of Biology, Newcastle University, Ridley Building, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

BACKGROUND: Global demand for organic produce is increasing by 4 billion annually. One key reason why consumers buy organic food is because they consider it to be better for human and animal health. Reviews comparing organic and conventional food have stated that organic food is preferred by birds and mammals in choice tests.

RESULTS: This study shows the opposite result - that captive birds in the laboratory and wild garden birds both consumed more conventional than organic wheat when given free choice. There was a lag in preference formation during which time birds learnt to distinguish between the two food types, which is likely to explain why the present results differ from those of previous studies. A further experiment confirmed that, of 16 potential causal factors, detection by birds of consistently higher levels of protein in conventional seeds （a common difference between many organic and conventional foodstuffs） is the likely mechanism behind this pattern.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the current dogma that organic food is preferred to conventional food may not always be true, which is of considerable importance for consumer perceptions of organically grown food.