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The study’s authors, from the University of Michigan, hypothesized that a “tendency to over-generalize health claims” could lead consumers of organic foods to assume that an organic label implies a less calorific product – not just one that is produced without synthetic chemicals. Both the terms ‘organic’ and ‘low-calorie’ are strongly associated with the concept of ‘healthy’ in contemporary America, they wrote, suggesting that “these associations might lead consumers to assume that foods produced organically contain fewer calories than their conventional counterparts, despite the fact that the ‘organic’ designation entails no such claim.”
In addition, they found that the influence of the organic claim on calorie judgments was most pronounced among participants for whom organic production was a particularly valued attribute.
Study methodology
The researchers conducted two experiments to see whether consumers might equate organic with fewer calories.
In the first study, they asked 114 college students to read nutrition labels for cookies labeled either ‘Oreo cookies’ or ‘Oreo cookies made with organic flour and sugar’, both clearly marked as containing 160 calories. They were then asked to rate whether they thought the cookies contained fewer or more calories than other cookie brands and whether they should be eaten more or less often than other cookie brands.
As predicted, the cookies described as ‘organic’ were perceived to have fewer calories, and participants also said the organic cookies could be eaten more often than the non-organic ones.
In a separate study, 215 college students read about a character who wanted to lose weight, but also wanted to skip her after-dinner run. They were told that she had chosen either an organic or non-organic dessert, or no dessert at all.
The participants were more likely to be lenient about the character’s choice to forego exercise when if she had chosen an organic dessert – and were even more lenient if she had chosen an organic dessert than if she had chosen no dessert at all.
"These findings suggest that 'organic' claims may not only foster lower calorie estimates and higher consumption intentions, but they may also convey that one has already made progress toward one's weight loss goal, thus undermining subsequent
goal-consistent action," the researchers wrote.
The authors noted that their findings were in line with previous research that showed an association between certain label claims and unrelated characteristics; for example, understanding ‘low fat’ to mean that a product is low in calories, or ‘low cholesterol’ to mean that a product is low in fat.
Source: Judgment and Decision Making
Vol. 5, No. 3, June 2010
“The “organic” path to obesity? Organic claims influence calorie judgments and exercise recommendations”
Authors: Jonathon Schuldt and Norbert Schwarz
6 comments (Comments are now closed)
Lack of comprehension?
20 years ago, whilst at college in the UK, I was dating a girl who was adamant that organic foods were healthier than no organic, and the best way to keep fit and within a desired weight was to 'eat organic' - her friends expressed the same perception. I came to realise that the advertising of 'healthy' organic food had created an image of organic equals health equals fitness - flawed logic!
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Posted by Docjape
07 July 2010 | 20h46
RE: People are stupid
Toxins are either fat or water soluble. Water soluble toxins do leave the body easily. Fat soluble get stored in the fat cells until the fat is released.
It is also said that low levels of toxic substances in the body can slow the metabolism.
My metabolism in the past was tested as slow. I refused to take synthroid, etc. In the past when I ate food that our family grew my metabolism was very fast.
Narrow thinking is one of the reasons this country is as sick as it is.
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Posted by Mary
02 July 2010 | 23h55
PEOPLE ARE STUPID...
I think your whole line of JUNK you are trying to sell is CRAZY! If you knew anything about nutrition you would realize that the claim "eat everything organic...otherwise you gain weight cause your body cant process all the sugars and chemicals" is a load of *^$&! Items that your body cannot process or handle, such as high amounts of fructose (for some people) or olean (you know the "fat Free" fat in those chips people wanted to badly just bc they were fat free) are simply excreted by our bodies NOT stored as fat. In order for your body to store something as fat, FIRST it has to be adequately metabolized. Stop reading these stupid articles and comments as your education pieces America and DO SOME RESEARCH to learn the FACTS!!!
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Posted by scc
30 June 2010 | 18h43
CORRECTION
I meant to say I can sit down to an industrial steak and get indigestion.
I also meant to say that I can't pronounce all of the ingredients on the industrial Oreos.
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Posted by Mary Schook
30 June 2010 | 15h17
A REAL STUDY
I haven't looked closely enough into this study posted here, but was this just a hypothetical study trying to show how "bright" young scholars were as well? Do these kids understand the measurement of a calorie?!
A real test would be to actually test what would happen if someone ate the organic oreo vs the one with ingredients I can pronounce with the same amount of calories? I bet the volume of the organic oreos would be larger and thus more filling than the volume of the traditional oreo.
Dennis there is a real story of another Mary. Mary Schook. I have been entirely organic for almost 7 months now and lost 60+lbs!!! You can follow my journey at http://www.foodincavenue.blogspot.com
There have been other readers that have written me to tell me of similar results.
I NEVER thought that by just CHANGING ONLY THE SOURCE OF MY FOOD I would be losing weight. I'm coming to find out that industrial foods tend to contain chemicals and sugars our bodies just can not process (at least this body)!!! My journey includes losing weight off of eating organic ice cream and organic steak if I want to. I DO NOT restrict my calories. I also do not exercise as often as I used to. Another difference is I can sit down to an "industrial steak" and not get indigestion. If I eat a true "organic steak" I can be hungry again in a couple of hours.
In this study I bet you these kids also think organic means vegetarian as well? Who gains weight off of eating vegetables? Well actually I did! I ate salads with no dressing, a half avocado for EFA's and an egg probably totaling no more than 550 cal. That would be most of my meal for the day and I still gained weight. I did calorie restriction. No eating after certain hours. No carbs. Name it I did it and now I don't think I could ever go back to not eating organic as severely inconvenient and anti-social as this has been.
We'll see what happens over the next 6 months.
Gonna be tough to tell grandma I can eat at Denny's for xmas or any other holiday ritual as I doubt they have organic. Guess you're gonna have to read my blog to find out if they do.
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Posted by Mary Schook
30 June 2010 | 15h11
"The Story of Mary and Jane."
My Good Food Friends -
First of all, these ‘researchers’ at "Judgment and Decision Making" have waaaaaay tooooo much time on their hands!
I offer them “The Story of Mary and Jane”:
Here’s a jar of Kroger® Apple Sauce and here’s a jar of Santa Cruz Apple Sauce. They both say ‘Apple Sauce’ right on the front of the label, A-p-p-l-e S-a-u-c-e! Spelled the same and everything. So hey, what could be the difference, huh. Well, the Kroger® is non-organic, and its ingredients are non-organic apples, high fructose corn syrup and water. The Santa Cruz is Organic and its INGREDIENT is Organic Apples.
But the real kicker is … two people sit down for a little ½ cup bowl of applesauce. One person has the Organic Good Food Apple Sauce, and the other has the non-organic poor food apple sauce product. The person enjoying the Santa Cruz Apple Sauce gets up having enjoyed 60 calories of Organic Apples … the person that ate the Kroger® Apple Sauce gets up having taken in 100 calories of a mix of non-organic apples, high fructose corn syrup and water!
Now here's what that means … The Story of Mary and Jane. Mary and Jane are 18 and just graduate from high school. They live identical lives … similar jobs, similar neighborhoods, the same kind of boyfriends, the same choices of exercise, hobbies, sports and activities AND… exactly the same amount of applesauce every day. The only difference in their entire lives is that Mary makes the Organic Good Food Choice and Jane makes the non-organic poor food product choice. Well, Jane gains on Mary 40 calories a day, 280 calories a week … a mere eight hundredths of a pound, 1.28ozs. And 1.28ozs spread all over you … well … you'd never even notice it! However, the gain is 4.2 POUNDS for the year.
Mary and Jane live their identical lives over the years after graduation … except for that daily little ½ cup bowl of Organic and non-organic applesauce.
Now, Mary and Jane go to their 10th High School Reunion PARTY. Everyone still wants to dance with Mary. But Jane … they're pointing at … she's gained nearly 50 pounds!
So if just one non-organic poor food product choice makes this little Story work, just imagine where a lifetime of non-organic poor food product choices would take you!
To Your Health!
Dennis L. Weaver, MBA, GFG
Founder
Change Your Food – Change Your Life!™
425.774.8971
www.ChangeYourFood.com
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Posted by Dennis L. Weaver
29 June 2010 | 18h28
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