The sweet tooth hypothesis: How fruit consumption relates to snack consumption

Building on prior work related to taste preferences of fruit lovers, we investigate the “sweet tooth” hypothesis. First, using CSFII survey data, we show that fruit consumption is more highly related to sweet snack consumption than it is to salty snack consumption. Second, a follow-up study with a different population supports the relationship by showing that sweet snack consumption is more related to fruit consumption than it is to vegetable consumption. Knowing that people who frequently eat sweet snacks may be predisposed to increasing their fruit consumption will enable better targeting and tailoring of educational efforts, such as those used in the 5-a-Day for Better Health campaign.