The fear of missing out (FOMO) concept will be examined in a new research project into people's compulsion to try new food products. Login or signup to continue reading "There are some people who perhaps see lots of new foods and have to try them," University of Newcastle Professor Tracy Burrows said. "There's always new foods.
" Take KitKats for example. Once there was the standard milk chocolate version. Now there are varieties that include gooey caramel, Milo, mint, milky bar, dark chocolate and green tea.
An appetite for the new, combined with fast food marketing, is believed to be fuelling people's food addictions . Amid this desire for the latest packaged food products, the "chemical cocktail of ingredients" within them gets ignored. "Think of all the new foods on the supermarket shelves.
There are so many - whole aisles of snack foods," Professor Burrows said. "That fear of missing out is topical for a lot of people. It seems to make people want to indulge in new food and drink products.
" The professor's team has released an online survey , open to all Australian adults, that considered whether FOMO played a role in eating behaviours. "FOMO describes the concern of missing out on a rewarding experience, a modern psychological phenomenon that has yet to be explored in relation to addictive eating," the survey stated. "The survey contains multiple-choice questions only and will investigate eating behaviours including addictive eating and reward-driven eating, as well as F.