Brian Wansink

Brian Wansink, has been referred to as the "Sherlock Holmes of Food" and the "Wizard of Why" for his work in the fields of food psychology and eating behavior.

According to Wansink, the average person makes around 250 decisions about food every day – breakfast or no breakfast? Pop-tart or bagel? Part of it or all of it? Kitchen or car? Brian Wansink believes that most of us don't overeat because we're hungry. We overeat because of family and friends, packages and plates, names and numbers, labels and lights, colors and candles, shapes and smells, distractions and distances, cupboards and containers.

Wansink , the Dyson Professor of Marketing and Nutritional Science at Cornell, oversees the Cornell Food & Brand Lab. He is also author of the bestselling book Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. In addition to Mindless Eating, Wansink is author of over 100 academic articles and books, including Marketing Nutrition, Asking Questions, and Consumer Panels. Wansink's work at the lab helps companies develop "win-win" ways to help people eat more nutritiously and to better control how much they eat. His academic research on food psychology and behavior change has been published in the world's top marketing, medical, and nutrition journals and has won national and international awards for its relevance to consumers

From 2007-2009 Wansink was granted a leave-of-absence from Cornell to accept a Presidential appointment as Executive Director of USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the Federal agency in charge of developing 2010 Dietary Guidelines and promoting the Food Guide Pyramid (MyPyramid.gov). While there, web hits to Dietary Guidelines increased 44% to 5.4 million/day, and he was named ABC World News Person of the Week.

Wansink is a popular speaker at numerous conferences worldwide, helping organizations reach consumers trying to transition to a healthier lifestyle.