A Comparison of the Fat Content Between Organic and Inorganic Processed Snack Food

Abstract

Consumers look to organic food options as healthier alternatives to their favourite snacks. However, there is not much evidence that suggests that organic foods are in fact healthier than their inorganic counterparts, especially regarding the amount of fat in these foods. The objective of this study was to compare the fat content between organic and inorganic cookies and granola bars. This was investigated by using acetone-based solvent extraction to measure the fat content in Savor Organic Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich cookies, inorganic Oreo cookies, Annie’s Organic Dipped Chocolate Chip granola bars, and inorganic Quakers Dipps Chocolatey Chip granola bars. Based on the nutrition labels of these foods, we hypothesized that the organic varieties of the cookies and granola bars would have higher fat contents than the inorganic varieties. Yet, our study found no significant difference in the amount of fat between the organic Savor cookies and the inorganic Oreo cookies (p = 0.155), and the organic Annie’s granola bars and inorganic Quakers granola bars (p = 0.148). These results suggest that fat may not need to be a consideration for shoppers who look to buy organic foods as ‘healthier’ options.