The Role of Misinformation in Food Preferences

HFN-2OI-02

8 November 2022
Introduction:
Food preferences play a large role in our health, both physical and mental. Most of the time,
“food preferences” refers to what foods we do or do not enjoy consuming. However, food
preferences can also be active choices made by the consumer, such as veganism, or religious
choices. These choices are largely based on opinion, formed from a base of prior knowledge.
However, if this base of prior knowledge is weak, then these opinions and thus these choices can
be easily changed through information or misinformation.

Aim of Experiment:
The aim of the experiment is to determine how misinformation affects our opinions on food, and
how large an effect misinformation has on our opinions on food.

Hypothesis:
A considerable amount of people’s opinions will be changed by misinformation. More people’s
minds will be changed on the topics of more common topics than less common topics.

Background information:
To judge the popularity of a food-related term, Google Trends will be used to evaluate the
popularity of a search term on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being least popular and 100 being most
popular. The three topics chosen are cow’s milk, organic foods, and genetically modified
organisms. Specifically, the topics have been chosen to represent three general levels of
obscurity: milk is the most common, organic food is the second most popular, and genetically
modified organisms are the most obscure topic chosen (Google Trends, 2022). Also, note that
milk is also the only topic required by curriculum to be taught to the target market, as milk was
included in the pre-2019 version of the Canada’s Food Guide (Health Canada, 2007).

Methods:
To gather information, three different questionnaires are created all with similar questions but
different topics. The three topics chosen are controversial so that there are clear, scientifically
supported arguments that the topic is positive, and that it is negative.
Form Setup:
Each form begins with a title generally outlining the general subject of the form (figure 1a, 1b,
1c), providing a brief, unopinionated description of the respective topic. Questions are separated
by section barriers and are all required, so participants cannot pass ahead and see the following
questions. The first question asks a yes or no question on the opinion of the participants on the
subject (figure 2a, 2b, 2c). If they answer yes, they will see a poster depicting the negative effects
of the topic (figure 3a, 3b, 3c); if they answer no, a poster depicting the positive effects of the
topic (figure 4a, 4b, 4c). Then, a final question will appear once again asking them their opinion
of the topic after considering the poster. It is quite likely that the respondent would not have
taken the time to read the poster, so the option to go back to the poster was left open to the
participant.
The form was coded using conditional formatting to ensure that people would only see the right
poster based on their answer to the first question. The form was also coded so people who
answered yes twice (yes + yes) received 0 (0 + 0) points, people who answered yes once (yes +
no) received 1 point (0 + 1), people who answered yes once (no + yes) received 2 points (2 + 0),
and people who answered yes 0 times received 3 (2 + 1) points. This way, there is a point value
assigned to every possible answer combination, in order to easily track how many people
answered what.
Each class is given a different google form to avoid biased responses and to reduce
discrepancies.

Results:
Question Answer Quantity Total Percentage Percentage
Changed

Do you think A1, A2: Yes 7 13 53.85% 38.46%

milk is good (5/13)
for you? A1: Yes; A2: No 4 30.77%

A1: No; A2: Yes 1 7.69%

A1, A2: No 1 7.69%

Organics A1, A2: Yes 2 6 33.33% 50% (3/6)

A1: Yes; A2: No 3 50%

A1: No; A2: Yes 0 0%

A1, A2: No 1 16.67%

GMO A1, A2: Yes 2 6 33.33% 50% (3/6)

A1: Yes; A2: No 2 33.33%

A1: No; A2: Yes 1 16.67%

A1, A2: No 1 16.67%

Total N/A 25 25 100% 44% (11/25)

Analysis:
The data clearly and definitively shows that people are indeed swayed by misinformation.
Specifically, 44% of respondents answered that the one-sided posters changed their minds.
Furthermore, it is interesting to note that people consistently picked yes as their first answer
regardless of their second answer (80%), as people seem to lean towards being more positive.
This occurs even if they don’t fully understand the topic, as 81.82% of respondents who changed
their minds answered with yes on their first question. However, 33.33% of respondents answered
no on the first question for the GMO questionnaire compared to 16.67% for the organics
questionnaire and 15.38% for the milk questionnaire. This data point highlights how GMO is
cast in a negative light by the media, with foods being held as “better for you” if they are
organic, and milk being hailed as a great source of nutrients, but foods also being treated as
better if non-GMO. Finally, 50% of respondents changed their minds for both the GMO and
organics questionnaires compared to only 38.46% of respondents for the milk questionnaire,
highlighting how milk is taught about in schools, largely due to the 2007 Canada’s Food Guide,
but not any of the other topics, leading to more effective misinformation.

Figures:

Figure 1a: Cow’s Milk, Title and Description Figure 1b: Organics, Title and Description
Figure 1c: GMO, Title and Description

Figure 2a: Cow’s Milk, Question 1 Figure 2b: Organics, Question 1 Figure 2c: GMO, Question 1

Figure 3a: Cow’s Milk, Negativity Poster Figure 3b: Organics, Negativity Poster Figure 3c: GMO, Negativity Poster
 Figure 3a: Cow’s Milk, Positivity Poster Figure 3b: Organics, Positivity Poster Figure 3c: GMO, Positivity Poster

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the data clearly supported the hypothesis that many people would be swayed by
the misinformation, and that more people would have their minds changed by the Organics and
GMO posters than the milk poster. This information clearly highlights the need for more
food-related topics to be taught in schools to increase awareness in all topics about food.
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin is credited with being the first to say “You are what you eat.” What you
think changes what you eat; what you eat determines what you are; so if I can so easily
manipulate teenagers’ thoughts on food, that can be a dangerous thing.

Works Cited:
Google. (2022, November 11). Google Trends - Milk, Organics, and Genetically Modified
Organisms. Google Trends. Retrieved November 11, 2022, from
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=CA&q=milk,organic,gmo
Health Canada. (2007). Eating well with Canada’s FoodGuide. Canada's Food Guide - 2007.
Retrieved November 12, 2022, from
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/migration/hc-sc/fn-an/alt_formats/fnihb-dgspni/pdf
/pubs/fnim-pnim/2007_fnim-pnim_food-guide-aliment-eng.pdf