Choosing between an Apple and a Chocolate Bar: the Impact of Health and Taste Labels

Abstract

Increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables is a central component of improving population health. Reasons people give for choosing one food over another suggest health is of lower importance than taste. This study assesses the impact of using a simple descriptive label to highlight the taste as opposed to the health value of fruit on the likelihood of its selection. Participants (N=439) were randomly allocated to one of five groups that varied in the label added to an apple: apple; healthy apple; succulent apple; healthy and succulent apple; succulent and healthy apple. The primary outcome measure was selection of either an apple or a chocolate bar as a dessert. Measures of the perceived qualities of the apple (taste, health, value, quality, satiety) and of participant characteristics (restraint, belief that tasty foods are unhealthy, BMI) were also taken. When compared with apple selection without any descriptor (50%), the labels combining both health and taste descriptors significantly increased selection of the apple (’healthy & succulent’ 65.9% and ‘succulent & healthy’ 62.4%), while the use of a single descriptor had no impact on the rate of apple selection (‘healthy’ 50.5% and ‘succulent’ 52%). The strongest predictors of individual dessert choice were the taste score given to the apple, and the lack of belief that healthy foods are not tasty. Interventions that emphasize the taste attributes of healthier foods are likely to be more effective at achieving healthier diets than those emphasizing health alone.

Priming healthy eating. You can't prime all the people all of the time

“…Importantly, these effects were observed while controlling for a number of psychological constructs, including measures of food beliefs and goals that also predicted fruit choice. This suggests that age and education appear to have an impact on food preferences not explained by the psychological variables that predicted fruit selection in the current study, including explicit food goals and the belief that unhealthy foods generally taste better ( Raghunathan et al., 2006 ), in line with previous studies ( Forwood, Walker, Hollands, & Marteau, 2013; Glanz et al., 1998 ).…”

Brain Potentials Highlight Stronger Implicit Food Memory for Taste than Health and Context Associations

“…Although there is increasing interest in how different factors are associated with food, how these “top down” signals differentially influence food choice remained elusive. For example, in a recent behavioral study on the use of simple descriptive food labels to promote healthy food choices, it was found that interventions that emphasize the taste of healthier foods are likely to be more effective at achieving healthier diets than those emphasizing health alone [ 13 ]. Furthermore, it has been suggested that extra attention should be paid to the tastefulness of healthy food products.…”

“…Taste was shown the most chosen as the first criterion in food choice [ 12 ]. A direct comparison between taste and health associations showed that the taste of an apple was indeed a stronger predictor of individual dessert choice as compared to its assigned health score [ 13 ]. Furthermore, food choices were guided by information about time of the consumption (i.e.…”

Pistas Implícitas E Obesidade: Estratégias De Proteção Contra O Marketing De Alimentos

“…Outro estudo mostrou que participantes expostos a rótulos, que ressaltavam tanto o sabor como os aspectos saudáveis de uma maçã, a selecionaram significativamente mais comparados aos participantes que viram a maçã sem qualquer descritor. 75 Portanto, algumas evidências no âmbito da Neurobiologia apontam para a modulação das respostas autonômicas e dos circuitos cerebrais por frases textuais.…”