About 50 food studies take place at any one time in Cornell University's food lab. Some of Brian Wansink's studies – critics call them "Happy Meal" studies – take place in the field. Regardless of location, all of Wansink's experiments yield interesting findings about how our subconscious influences what, and how, we eat. Check out these fun facts.
- Give a group of people at a bar the Super Bowl and a plate of chicken wings, and the subjects will eat 28 percent more when a waitress clears the bones from the table than when the bones pile up.
- You'll eat more M&Ms if they're available in 10 colors than if they come in seven because you'll crave the variety.
- Flowers at your table will make you eat more, even though the smell may clash with the smell of your meal.
- Use small plates, keep junk food in inconvenient places, avoid eating directly from a package, and be the last one at your table to start eating. You'll fare better nutritionally by practicing these healthy habits.
For more wacky food scoop, check out Wansink's book:
Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.
