what is the importance of organic molecules in food?

Answer 1

From the point of a view of a chemist, all the food we eat is "organic", because it contains organic molecules. Without organic molecules like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, etc. we would starve and die. They are very important.

Organic chemistry is the study of compounds of the element carbon (with the exception of a few very simple compounds). Because one carbon atom can bond to four other atoms, including another carbon atom, the possible compounds you can make is endless. And you can make compounds that are mirror images of each other ("chiral"). There are far more compounds of carbon known then of all the rest of the elements combined.

Since life is made of carbon compounds, a lot of organic compounds in commercial use originate from plants and animals. Table sugar is extracted from sugar cane or sugar beets, contains the element carbon, is moderately complex, and therefore "organic" from the viewpoint of a chemist.

(The other major source of carbon compounds is petroleum, that people believe originated from plants that lived a long time ago.)


A few years ago, in an effort to increase the price of food, some food producers started labeling their food "organic". The exact definition of organic varied from farmer to farmer, but included not using chemical fertilizers, avoiding a lot of pesticides, being kind to chickens before they are slaughtered, selling milk in glass bottles, etc.

To an organic chemist this seemed somewhat ridiculous, but has caught on in the marketplace, mainly because you can charge more for the exact same organic chemical compounds found in everyday food.

Because of the stakes involved, the exact definition of what qualified as organically labeled food became controversial, with farmers arguing over whose food was the most organic. It got so bad the FDA had to step in and develop guidelines.