LONDON -- Eating organic food may help prevent cancer, heart attacks and strokes, a team of scientists in Britain has claimed.

Researchers at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary in Scotland have found organic vegetable soup contains six times as much of a natural acid which helps combat bowel cancer and hardening arteries as non-organic soups.

DPA quoted Biochemist John Paterson as saying "the higher levels of salicylic acid in organic food means eating organic may be good for you", **** New Scientist **** magazine reported.

He added: "I'm not an evangelist for the organic food movement, but there was a fairly substantial difference." Salicylic acid occurs naturally in plants, which could explain why levels are higher in organic vegetables grown without protection from pesticides, the magazine suggested."

Earlier research by the team discovered significantly higher concentrations of the acid in the blood of vegetarian Buddhist monks compared with that of meat-eaters.