Food for Thought: Organic vs. Conventional

In the media, organic fruits and vegetables are portrayed as being superior to conventionally-produced foods in several aspects, including flavor. This study’s objective was to determine if college students changed their perceptions regarding the flavor of a conventionally grown food after being falsely told it was organic, with the hypothesis that subjects would prefer samples believed to be organic. Taste panels were conducted over three consecutive days with 102 participants. All the celery, carrots, apples and bananas tested were purchased within the three days of testing. A first set of coded samples was offered, then a second plate, for which subjects were told the samples were organic. Subjects rated samples on a 9-point hedonic scale, where 1=dislike extremely and 9=like extremely. A survey of fruits and vegetable intake and attitudes regarding organic foods was also taken. Subjects rated all samples highly, but no difference in flavor preference was found when comparing conventional to ―organic‖ carrots, celery, and apples. However, a significant (p=0.04) difference was shown to exist between the samples of banana, with the perceived organic banana receiving a higher value for flavor. At this time it is not fully understood why the banana samples exhibited differences in flavor while the others did not. Further research will be needed to fully understand the relationship between perceptions of organic and conventional foods and perceived flavor differences