Going organic will also keep you healthier and slimmer. Fruit and vegetables grown without artificial fertilizers have more key nutrients, including vitamin C, they said.

A lucky few could live for many months longer and some for up to five years more, the researchers said.

The study by the University of Newcastle argues that it is on a par with the benefit for the country from the national breast cancer screening program, the Daily Mail reported.

It also suggests eating organic is likely to improve general health, highlighting the higher levels of compounds which encourage the body to burn fat.

The conclusion challenges the Food Standards Agency, which has long dismissed the health gains of organic food.

The researchers, based at Newcastle's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, reviewed all the most recent research on nutrients found in organic food.

The Newcastle study will be published in the next issue of the journal Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences.

From the May 23, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.