An apple is healthier, but why do we reach for the doughnut instead? Most likely because we know it tastes good. If the calorie count and fat content were listed right there in front of us, would we make a different decision? Not necessarily.Researchers at the Kiel University in Germany found that, even with nutritional information available, people were more likely to use taste to drive eating decisions. Participants in their study were presented with an assortment of yogurts with varying levels of sugar and fat. When given information about the ingredients, participants were still not more likely to select the healthier product.
Not surprisingly, participants classified as unhealthy eaters were least likely to use ingredient information when deciding which yogurt to eat. Both healthy and unhealthy eaters, though, said that taste was a main factor in their decision-making process.
The researchers say the problem is linked to perception, that unhealthy is associated with being tasty. And since taste is the main driver in food choices, people are more likely to make unhealthy choices.
Our ability to exercise self-control in eating decisions could be a result of how quickly our brain factors considerations like taste and healthfulness. In a different study, researchers at the California Institute of Technology asked 28 participants who had been fasting for four hours to individually rate 160 foods for their healthfulness, tastiness, and how much the participants would like to eat that food after the experiment. Using a new technique they had created, they were able to evaluate down to the millisecond when taste and health information kicked in during the decision-making process.
Again, these researchers found that people considered taste over health. Taste information began influencing the decision-making process an average of 200 milliseconds before health did. And for 32 percent of participants, each choice was based entirely on taste, as health never influenced their decisions at all.
The same researchers also determined that participants with less self-control factored in health information 323 milliseconds later than a group with high self-control. The researchers concluded that the faster we consider a food's health benefits, the more likely we are to exert self-control by choosing the healthier option.
Our challenge as food producers and marketers? Shaking the perception that healthy foods don't taste good. We can make healthy foods more appealing by improving taste as well as enhancing packaging and marketing. We also need to make ingredients and health information easily accessible and obvious so that it becomes a factor earlier in the food decision- making process.
The author is an associate editor and covers animal health, dairy housing and equipment, and nutrient management. She grew up on a dairy farm near Plymouth, Wis., and previously served as a University of Wisconsin agricultural extension agent. She received a master's degree from North Carolina State University and a bachelor's from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
