Do you automatically equate “organic” with healthy? If so, you are not alone. According to a new study by the Food and Brand Lab, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, people generally consider organic food healthier, better tasting, and of greater value than their non-organic counterparts. Asked to evaluate supposedly organic and non-organic varieties of three kinds of food – yogurt, cookies and potato chips – many of the surveyed 115 mall visitors in Ithaca said they thought there were fewer calories and less fat in the organic versions, and that they’d pay as much as 23.4 percent more for it. In reality, the foods were identical.
Other work by Food and Brand Lab and Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Program directors Brian Wansink and David Just was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered program. In a study published online by The Journal of Pediatrics, they (along with lead author, PhD researcher Andrew Hanks) demonstrate that small, simple changes in presentation and layout can have a large impact on how — and what — students eat.
