Consumers who eat foods labeled organic foods believe that it is healthier, tastes better, even lower in calories.
Several previous studies also show that most perceive organic food as healthy foods because of the "halo effect" of the organic label.
In a new study conducted by a team from New York's Cornell University found that many consumers are fooled by the organic label on food products.
The research team involved 115 people who were recruited from the local shopping center to participate in the study. They were given several questions to evaluate three types of products, namely two yogurt, two cookies, and two bags of chips.
One of each type of product is labeled organic, while the rest is labeled regular. Consumers do not realize it, every instance of actual organic products and the same.
The study volunteers were questioned about the taste and calorie content of each product and how much they are willing to pay for the product. The questionnaire also includes the spending habits of consumers.
Although each product is the same, but the product that gets consumers perceived the organic label as a product that is healthier, tastes good, and low calorie.
Pastries and yogurt in the packaging says that organic is considered to have the lowest calorie content, consumers are even willing to pay more for such products.
Nutritional aspects of these products are also biased by the effects of "healthy" of products labeled as organic. Consumers assess pastries and organic yogurt has a lower fat content and nutritious than the usual kind.
Organic labels deceive even the sense of taste. When perceived organic, consumers say was more interesting chips and yogurt taste better.
In fact, usually non-organic foods are considered more delicious because most people consider healthy food usually tastes less good.
Even so, the research team found that people who used to read the nutrition labels and buy organic products is not influenced by the "halo effect" healthy.