Despite recently petitioned evidence of higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, Britain’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) concluded last month that organic milk does not provide significant health benefits over conventional.

The FSA made the conclusion after assessing the evidence on the nutritional differences between organic and non-organic milk provided by a group of scientists who wrote to the FSA recently asking it to “reconsider its position.”

“The new evidence you have provided does not justify the assertion that organic milk provides health benefits other than those associated with conventionally produced milk,” FSA Chairwoman Deidre Hutton said in a letter to one of the scientists, which is available on the Agency’s website.

The FSA has concluded that organically produced milk can contain higher levels of types of fats called short-chain omega-3 fatty acids than conventionally produced milk, the evidence suggests that these fatty acids appear to be of limited health benefit compared to the longer chain omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish.

Advocates of organic milk said they were partially satisfied that the agency accepted that organic milk is substantially different from conventional milk.