Mothers who regularly consume organic dairy and meat products have much healthier breast milk, research suggests.

Researchers from the Paracelsus Hospital in Switzerland studied 312 breastfeeding women with 1-month old infants from the Netherlands.

They found that the breast milk of mothers who consumed at least 90 per cent of dairy and meat products from organic sources contained higher levels of beneficial fatty acids such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).

CLA is a type of fat that is believed to have anti-carcinogenic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-diabetic and immune-enhancing effects, as well as a favourable influence on body fat composition.

For newborns specifically, CLA is believed to especially aid immune system development.

Dr Lukas Rist, Paracelsus Hospital: "These findings provide scientific support for common sense, by showing that organic foods are healthier."

Lead researcher Dr Lukas Rist said: "These findings provide scientific support for common sense, by showing that organic foods are healthier.

"The study shows that breastfeeding mothers can influence the supply and quality of fatty acids for their infants, by eating a diet with organic dairy."

Other recent studies add support to the growing body of evidence that organic foods offer measurable nutritional benefits.

Cows that acquire most of their nutrition from grazing pasture have been shown to produce milk with decreased levels of saturated fat - the "bad" type of fat - and increased concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids and CLA - the "good" types of fat.

"Many consumers know, based on increasing media coverage of scientific and medical research, that organic foods reduce their exposure to pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics, but the Paracelsus Hospital study shows that organic foods also offer superior nutritional quality," said Charlotte Vallaeys, farm and food policy analyst at The Cornucopia Institute.

"The benefits of consuming organic food are of paramount importance when thinking about their impact on the development of very young children and fetuses."

The Paracelsus Hospital research is published in the British Journal of Nutrition.