Bacon frying. Buttery popcorn. Warm brownies fresh from the oven. Many a healthy eating pledge has flown out the window at first whiff of one of these mouthwatering aromas. Of course, we saw—or rather, smelled—it coming.
But what about other, sneakier ways our sniffers might be leading us to indulge?
Thanks to "smellvertising" and other nosey ploys—from artificial aromas that make us think a food is nutritious, to scents that trigger subconscious cravings (the toughest kind to resist, experts say)—companies are increasingly recruiting our nostrils to get us unwittingly hooked on not-so-healthy foods.