Could natural labels lead you to overeat? These types of labeling certainly appear to make individuals believe their own organic snack has a lot fewer energy compared to it will. These bits of information had been presented at this week’s Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, Calif. These people demonstrated which people who consumed natural cookies called “organic” thought which their snack included 40% less energy than the exact same cookies that got no label, according to Jenny Wan-Chen Lee, a graduate student with the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.
“An organic label gives a food a ‘health halo,’ said coauthor, Brian Wansink, Cornell professor and author of the book, Marketing Nutrition. It’s the same basic reason people tend to overeat any snack food that’s labeled as healthy or low fat. They underestimate the calories and over-reward themselves by eating more.”
The study even identified two personality kinds most likely to make these reduced estimations — individuals who claim to “usually buy organic foods,” and those who usually examine labels for nutritional information.
Imagine you won’t want to overindulge an organic food?
“Take your best guess at its calorie count. Then double it. You’ll end up being more accurate, and you’ll probably eat a lot less,” explained Wansink.
Source: Cornell Food & Brand Lab
