organic Oreo skeptisismOrganic Oreos? Don’t bite the hype.EricSkiff via Creative Commons

Atkins. South Beach. Master Cleanse.

Each of these diets is supposed to help you lose weight (and feel great!). “Organic,” on the other hand, does not belong in quite the same category. According to a new study, however, there appears to be an organic-cookie-eating portion of the U.S. confusing “organic” with “low calorie.”

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In a recently presented study by the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, organic snackers reportedly perceived foods with “organic” labels to contain 40% fewer calories. Cornell professor and a co-author of the study, Brian Wansink, postulated, “An organic label gives a food a ‘health halo.'” Sorry, folks, organic food can still make you fat.

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What the study really tells us is that — besides supermarket-wide organic ignorance — there are people eating junk food who think “organic” is some kind of new “Sweet ‘n’ Low” — all the yummy goodness but only half the guilt. Pass the organic Oreos, please!

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