Catchy vegetable names increase affinity for greens

Second Summer

Second Summer

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In the first study, plain old carrots were transformed into “X-ray Vision Carrots.” 147 students ranging from 8-11 years old from 5 ethnically and economically diverse schools participated in tasting the cool new foods. [...] By changing the carrots to “X-ray vision carrots”, a whopping 66% were eaten, far greater than the 32% eaten when labeled “Food of the Day” and 35% eaten when unnamed. [...]

These results demonstrate that using attractive names for healthy foods increases kid’s selection and consumption of these foods and that an attractive name intervention is robust, effective and scalable at little or no cost. Very importantly, these studies confirm that using attractive names to make foods sound more appealing works on individuals across all age levels!
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Catchy vegetable names increase affinity for greens (Cornell University Food & Brand Lab)

Cornell has a whole website dedicated to the topic at
http://smarterlunchrooms.org/
 
That's interesting. :)

This reminds me of the time some years ago when an American food company that markets prunes, wanting to increase sales across wider demographics, decided to change the name of the product to "dried plums", which is what prunes actually are. But prunes have an unattractive reputation because of their association with old people and, er, their desire to move their bowels. :p

I have no idea if this labeling strategy worked, however.
 
RabbitLuvr said:
I don't like it.
I don't like the whole attitude of "tricking" kids into eating vegetables.
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They're the same vegetables, just with a fancier name. It's not the same as a food company putting the word "fiber" on a box of cookies so they can call them "healthy". :p
 
I dont see the harm. Some supermarkets over here have lunchbox packets of fruit and veg with names like 'Sally Strawberry' on them. If it gets kids to eat more healthy food its good.
Also my sister and i were awful eaters as kids but when my Mam called parsnip special potato (because we loved mashed potato) we ate it and liked it and asked for more and were more open to trying 'weird' veggies.
 
Amy SF said:
They're the same vegetables, just with a fancier name. It's not the same as a food company putting the word "fiber" on a box of cookies so they can call them "healthy". :p
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But why do they need a fancier name? Kids are being biased against plain old vegetables and towards marketing scams from the start.

I also don't like the attitude that vegetables have to be "hidden" in other foods to get kids to eat them. Putting a tiny amount of cauliflower into mac&cheese or claiming a serving of vegetables from tinned Spaghetti-O's isn't healthy and it doesn't get kids to like vegetables any more, or encourage them to eat vegetables in the future.
 
perhaps one could argue that kids have been tricked out of eating vegetables, by all the fast food adverts.

What on earth is wrong with giving kids vegetables in something else to get them to like it..?:rolleyes:
 
RabbitLuvr said:
Well if they can't taste the vegetables and/or don't even know they're there, how does that get them to like vegetables?
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I suppose it at least gets them to eat them... if your kid will only eat mac n' cheese, hiding a little cauliflower in it is obviously worse than getting them on a balanced diet, but better than them not eating the vegetables at all.
 
kids have got better sense of taste than adults, and probably can taste vegetables in things.

I never really liked spinach until I had some in lasagne, and then other things. My parents always cooked it on its own and we had it plain with the other food on the plate, bless 'em.

That's why I sort of think of some veg as medicine; to be chewed and swallowed as quickly as possible. :)
 
RabbitLuvr said:
Well if they can't taste the vegetables and/or don't even know they're there, how does that get them to like vegetables?
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Children have such intense taste buds, and prefer sweet foods (probably because human milk is very sweet ,and so they do not eat poison). As they get older, they accept more and more strongly flavored foods. Give a baby some mashed unsweetened green beans for the first time and watch his hilarious Yuck expression; you would think he had eaten a lemon.

I have no problem with hiding veggies or calling food something cute to get kids to eat it. I called broccoli Tiny Trees and carrots Rabbit Candy, made sandwiches with faces on them, called peanut butter and raisins on celery Ants on a Log, etc. Both kids are now grown and happily eat just about every fruit and vegetable. The younger is vegan, the older omni, both healthy, strong, and slim. Well, the boy is not so slim anymore, he is on a mission to get stronger, and just scared the crap out of me this morning by doing handstand pushups in the kitchen. :rolleyes:

Point is, kids eat with their eyes, prejudices they develop, and with very powerful tastebuds, especially for bitterness. If they eat grapes because they can use a toothpick to stab them first, and that is fun, fine by me. :)
 
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There were always vegetables on my plate, and I always ate them. My mom never made up any dumb names for vegetables, either. I'd never heard broccoli called "trees" until I was in my 30's.

I also believe making up new names is just unnecessary branding and packaging that will cost more. Only poor kids would have to eat plain carrots, but rich kids get to have Super X-ray Vegetables.


But whatever.
 
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The study was done on school lunches, which are free for economically disadvantaged kids. They just named the regular carrots Xray vision carrots or whatever. Maybe I spoiled my kids, but they ate and still eat their veggies. :)
 
I'm not sure I like the idea of the catch/marketing phrase, but that said, my mom used to call veggies "brain food," so that if we ate a lot of them, it would help us do well in school :D. It was my sister who needed more prodding than I, as I always enjoyed veggies. I think it helped that my mom was/is a great cook. We had veggies just steamed at times, but other times, she made really tasty casseroles and soups with them, or put veggies like broccoli or spinach in things like lasagna. One of my favorite ways to eat peas when I was a kid was in a cream sauce with pearl onions. I could eat bowls of them. Plus, she was always telling us that we'd get scurvy or be unhealthy if we didn't eat our veggies. :D
 
PTree15 said:
I'm not sure I like the idea of the catch/marketing phrase, but that said, my mom used to call veggies "brain food," so that if we ate a lot of them, it would help us do well in school :D. It was my sister who needed more prodding than I, as I always enjoyed veggies. I think it helped that my mom was/is a great cook. We had veggies just steamed at times, but other times, she made really tasty casseroles and soups with them, or put veggies like broccoli or spinach in things like lasagna. One of my favorite ways to eat peas when I was a kid was in a cream sauce with pearl onions. I could eat bowls of them. Plus, she was always telling us that we'd get scurvy or be unhealthy if we didn't eat our veggies. :D
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I still remember the taste of freshly picked peas, boiled and served with a knob of butter. I also remember picking vegetables and strawberries at the local farm and really enjoying them as a child.
 
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RabbitLuvr said:
I also believe making up new names is just unnecessary branding and packaging that will cost more. Only poor kids would have to eat plain carrots, but rich kids get to have Super X-ray Vegetables.
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Well, rich kids would be the dumber ones though.
 
shyvas said:
I still remember the taste of freshly picked peas, boiled and served with a knob of butter. I also remember picking vegetables and strawberries at the local farm and really enjoying them as a child.
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My aunt and uncle in Indiana had a small farm, and I used to love picking beans and tomatoes and getting to snap the beans and eat them raw. We ate the tomatoes like apples. Apple picking was also lots of fun.
 
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