Nutritional intelligence? Hyper-palatable foods do not dominate evaluations of familiar snacks in a Finnish sample

Finnish adults do not simply gravitate toward hyperpalatable snacks: they prefer non-hyperpalatable options, which they perceive as healthier and more satiating. This finding challenges the dominant account of snacking as passive overconsumption driven primarily by hyperpalatability. It also addresses a key discussion in research: whether consumers' everyday snack choices reflect implicit judgments about foods' nutritional properties, rather than taste alone. Using the FinnFoodPics database, we found that participants accurately estimated snack energy density for hyperpalatable foods and showed consistent relationships among liking, expected satiation, and perceived healthiness for non-hyperpalatable foods. These results support a form of nutritional intelligence in everyday food choice. Further, they suggest that food policies may be more effective when they consider snack consumption to be more complex than a simple model of hyperpalatable-food-driven intake.