“It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or two things still safe to eat.”  -Robert Fuoss

When did food become so complicated and laced with chemicals- if not entirely made from substances we can’t pronounce?  We are now cautioned to not eat anything with an ingredient list longer than a Charles Dickens sentence. We are being trained to shun high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated anything, and to identify the many names of sugar - maltodextrin, sucrose, dextrose, glucose, and more.

The problem isn’t just with our food: studies are being released to show the diameter of our plates and even the color are contributing to our unhealthy eating habits. How our food is arranged and labeled can also help us make dietary decisions. 

A recent report by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that color-coding and re-arranging food in the hospital’s cafeteria led people to make better choices. 

In phase one of the study they labeled the healthiest food choices with a green label, less healthier options with a yellow label, and then items with little no nutritional value with a glaringly obvious red label. The researchers then put up signs to direct customers to eat more green options- and you guessed it- the signs combined with the “green means go, yellow means slow down, and red means stop” labeling persuaded customers to select healthier items.

The second phase focused on the convenience foods customers were likely to grab while in a hurry: pre-made sandwiches, chips, and cold drinks. The beverage and sandwich displays were arranged according to the phase one color system with green items eye-level and the yellow and red either above or below. Yellow labeled chips were placed at eye level with red below. During both phases of the study there was a noticeable increase of green items being bought and the red items were left on the shelf as their sales declined.

"We believe this intervention was so successful because it was simple and easy to understand quickly. The labeling did not require any special skills and could be easily interpreted when a customer was in a rush," said Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH, of the MGH division of General Medicine and this study’s leader.  The system is still in place at  the hospital and the team will continue to monitor the sales to see if their customers keep up the healthy habits.  

Could a color scheme system like MGH’s transfer to a grocery store or fast food menu? Would customers shop at a grocery store where the food is placed into healthiest, healthier, and least healthy zones instead of the way most are set up with sections and aisles with similar if not the same products (different brands of the same foods)? Could a fast food restaurant even stay in business if the menu was divided in such a way? Or would we all run screaming from the burger joints if we were faced with the harsh reality of our unhealthy choices?