The mouth-watering pictures on food packaging at your local grocery store may be leading consumers to eat more than the recommended serving, according to new research.
The paper, which was published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, says that when consumers estimate portion size they may be more likely to be influenced by food-packaging art than by the serving size frequently listed on the back.
The problem is exacerbated when additional food items are depicted in the images, such as frosting on a cake-mix box.
"If we see a slice of cake smothered in frosting on the cake box, we think that is what is normal to serve and eat, but that’s not what is reflected in the serving size recommendation on the nutrition label,” said the paper's lead author John Brand in a press release.
The research was performed by scientists from Cornell University's Food and Brand lab, who looked at more than 50 different cake mix brands.
One of the studies involved included a survey of 72 undergraduates and 44 women in the food-service industry. It found that food-packaging cover art caused both groups to overestimate the recommended serving size. In particular, the food-service professionals did so to the tune of 122 calories.
If consumers actually compared a slice of the delicious-looking cake found on the cover cake-mix boxes to the information on the back, the portion has nearly 135 per cent more calories than the recommended serving, according to the research.
However, the study found when the phrase "frosting not included on the nutritional labelling" appeared on the box, estimates of the appropriate serving size dropped "significantly."
“Undoubtedly, companies don’t intend to deceive us when they include frosting in cake-box depictions, but these seemingly small elements of packaging can have a huge impact,” said co-author Brian Wansink.
The researchers suggest companies include a phrase reminding consumers about food in packaging images that are not included in the nutrition label's recommended serving size.
