Life of Guangzhou - For Kids, It Tastes Better If It's In A McDonald's Wrapper

CHICAGO - Has Ronald McDonald brainwashed our kids?

A shocking study of preschoolers finds they think anything in a McDonald's wrapper - even a vegetable - tastes better than the same food in a plain wrapper.

"You see a McDonald's label and kids start salivating," said Diane Levin, a childhood development specialist who campaigns against advertising to kids.

Stanford University researcher Tom Robinson, who conducted the study, said kids' perceptions of taste were "physically altered by the branding."

And it's not just burgers and fries. Carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids when they were wrapped in the the Golden Arches.

The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost the taste test. Robinson said it was remarkable how children so young were already so influenced by advertising.

The study involved 63 low-income children ages 3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo County, Calif.

It comes less than a month after 11 major companies, including McDonald's, announced new curbs on marketing to children under 12. McDonald's says the only Happy Meals it will promote to kids will contain fruit and have fewer calories and less fat.

"This is an important subject and McDonald's has been actively addressing it," said a spokesman for the fast-food chain.