Potato Chips labeled organic taste better

Jenny Wan-chen Lee, a graduate student at Cornell University asked - as part of her masters researc - whether the “health halo” surrounding organic foods would lead people to automatically perceive them as tastier or lower in calories.

She tested this question by conducting a double-blind, controlled trial in which she asked 144 subjects at the local mall to compare what they thought were conventionally and organically produced chocolate sandwich cookies, plain yogurt, and potato chips.

All of the products, however, were actually of the organic variety – they were just labeled as being “regular” or “organic.” Participants were then asked to rate each food for 10 different attributes (e.g., overall taste, perception of fat content) using a scale from 1 to 9.

She also asked them to estimate the number of calories in each food item and how much they would be willing to pay. As part of the scientific program of the American Society for Nutrition annual meeting, results from this study were presented on April 10 at the Experimental Biology 2011 meeting.

Confirming Lee’s health halo hypothesis, the subjects reported preferring almost all of the taste characteristics of the organically-labeled foods, even though they were actually identical to their conventionally-labeled counterparts.

The foods labeled “organic” were also perceived to be significantly lower in calories and evoked a higher price tag. In addition, foods with the “organic” label were perceived as being lower in fat and higher in fiber. Overall, organically-labeled chips and cookies were considered to be more nutritious than their “non-organic” counterparts.

So, not only is there a health halo emanating from organic foods, but it’s strong and consistent– at least for cookies, chips, and yogurt.

Although Lee is the first to acknowledge that her study was limited in the variety of foods tested, she is confident that this effect is real and has important implications as to what, and how much, people eat, especially those who preferentially seek out foods carrying an “organic” seal.

Additional studies will be needed before we know whether these perceived taste and nutrition attributes result in greater consumption of organic versus conventional foods.