The labeling of otherwise high-calorie foods

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The labeling of otherwise high-calorie foods

by pnk » Fri Jul 09, 2010 5:02 am
The labeling of otherwise high-calorie foods as "sugar-free," based on the replacement of all sugar by artificial sweeteners, should be prohibited by law. Such a prohibition is indicated because many consumers who need to lose weight will interpret the label "sugar-free" as synonymous with "low in calories" and harm themselves by building weight-loss diets around foods labeled "sugar-free." Manufacturers of sugar-free foods are well aware of this tendency on the part of consumers.

Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis for challenging the conclusion in the passage?
(A) Food manufacturers would respond to a ban on the label "sugar-free" by reducing the calories in sugar-free products by enough to be able to promote those products as diet foods.
(B) Individuals who are diabetic need to be able to identify products that contain no sugar by reference to product labels that expressly state that the product contains no sugar.
(C) Consumers are sometimes slow to notice changes in product labels unless those changes are themselves well advertised.
(D) Consumers who have chosen a particular weight-loss diet tend to persist with this diet if they have been warned not to expect very quick results.
(E) Exactly what appears on a product label is less important to consumer behavior than is the relative visual prominence of the different pieces of information that the label contains.

OA later

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by prepgmat09 » Fri Jul 09, 2010 5:53 am
IMO E.

E makes it less probable for someone who need to reduce her weight to change her consumer behavior (start consuming the product) by reading what is written on the label.

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by apex231 » Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:13 am
B looks good -> if there is no sugar free label then it will make shopping difficult for diabetic people.

B more strongly weakens the conclusion compared to E because B states that "Individuals who are diabetic need to be able to identify products that contain no sugar by reference to product labels that expressly state that the product contains no sugar".

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by diebeatsthegmat » Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:55 am
pnk wrote:The labeling of otherwise high-calorie foods as "sugar-free," based on the replacement of all sugar by artificial sweeteners, should be prohibited by law. Such a prohibition is indicated because many consumers who need to lose weight will interpret the label "sugar-free" as synonymous with "low in calories" and harm themselves by building weight-loss diets around foods labeled "sugar-free." Manufacturers of sugar-free foods are well aware of this tendency on the part of consumers.

Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis for challenging the conclusion in the passage?
(A) Food manufacturers would respond to a ban on the label "sugar-free" by reducing the calories in sugar-free products by enough to be able to promote those products as diet foods.
(B) Individuals who are diabetic need to be able to identify products that contain no sugar by reference to product labels that expressly state that the product contains no sugar.
(C) Consumers are sometimes slow to notice changes in product labels unless those changes are themselves well advertised.
(D) Consumers who have chosen a particular weight-loss diet tend to persist with this diet if they have been warned not to expect very quick results.
(E) Exactly what appears on a product label is less important to consumer behavior than is the relative visual prominence of the different pieces of information that the label contains.

OA later
if this argument need a statement to weaken the conclusion, E looks really good

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by outreach » Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:42 am
a.NO influence or argument
b.Correct.
c. strengthen
d. no effect of quick result. out of scope
e. the visual of the information in the label is not mentioned, and the comparison is out of scope
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by lkm » Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:47 am
I would also go with (B).

(E) no wheres weakens the passage. So leave it.
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by pnk » Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:16 pm
outreach wrote:a.NO influence or argument
b.Correct.
c. strengthen
d. no effect of quick result. out of scope
e. the visual of the information in the label is not mentioned, and the comparison is out of scope


(E) Exactly what appears on a product label is less important to consumer behavior than is the relative visual prominence of the different pieces of information that the label contains.

E mentions 'visual ...that the label...". Do you still feel its out of scope.

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by prepgmat09 » Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:48 pm
I thought B to be a strengthener. B states that diabetic people identify a product as not containing any sugar if this is expressly stated. If the label has "sugar free" written on it, then diabetic people would interpret this product to be devoid of sugar and in fact may harm themselves by cosuming the product. This would strengthen the conclusion that such labels should be prohibited.

But I am myself quite confused at this point. Could you post the OA, and the official explanation if available?

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by adi_800 » Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:57 am
OA is B.
E would weaken the argument...

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by prepgmat09 » Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:03 am
adi_800 wrote:OA is B.
E would weaken the argument...
But the question is also asking for a statment that would weaken the argument.

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by pnk » Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:23 am
OA is B; Source LSAT

We are still split between B and E. Can B's supporters try to explain it in more detail - why is E wrong

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by chetanc » Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:44 am
Doesn't C only restrict to Diabetic's..wheras the whole argument is about ppl who woudn'd be able to lose weight..
I selected E...

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by kevincanspain » Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:11 am
pnk wrote:The labeling of otherwise high-calorie foods as "sugar-free," based on the replacement of all sugar by artificial sweeteners, should be prohibited by law. Such a prohibition is indicated because many consumers who need to lose weight will interpret the label "sugar-free" as synonymous with "low in calories" and harm themselves by building weight-loss diets around foods labeled "sugar-free." Manufacturers of sugar-free foods are well aware of this tendency on the part of consumers.

Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis for challenging the conclusion in the passage?
(A) Food manufacturers would respond to a ban on the label "sugar-free" by reducing the calories in sugar-free products by enough to be able to promote those products as diet foods.
(B) Individuals who are diabetic need to be able to identify products that contain no sugar by reference to product labels that expressly state that the product contains no sugar.
(C) Consumers are sometimes slow to notice changes in product labels unless those changes are themselves well advertised.
(D) Consumers who have chosen a particular weight-loss diet tend to persist with this diet if they have been warned not to expect very quick results.
(E) Exactly what appears on a product label is less important to consumer behavior than is the relative visual prominence of the different pieces of information that the label contains.

OA later
B shows that the proposed ban would have a perverse effect, whereas E merely minimizes its effect in the event that the lettering is small. Since we are not given any information regarding how prominent the letter is, E is inconclusive. Choose B
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by prepgmat09 » Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:06 pm
kevincanspain wrote:
pnk wrote:The labeling of otherwise high-calorie foods as "sugar-free," based on the replacement of all sugar by artificial sweeteners, should be prohibited by law. Such a prohibition is indicated because many consumers who need to lose weight will interpret the label "sugar-free" as synonymous with "low in calories" and harm themselves by building weight-loss diets around foods labeled "sugar-free." Manufacturers of sugar-free foods are well aware of this tendency on the part of consumers.

Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis for challenging the conclusion in the passage?
(A) Food manufacturers would respond to a ban on the label "sugar-free" by reducing the calories in sugar-free products by enough to be able to promote those products as diet foods.
(B) Individuals who are diabetic need to be able to identify products that contain no sugar by reference to product labels that expressly state that the product contains no sugar.
(C) Consumers are sometimes slow to notice changes in product labels unless those changes are themselves well advertised.
(D) Consumers who have chosen a particular weight-loss diet tend to persist with this diet if they have been warned not to expect very quick results.
(E) Exactly what appears on a product label is less important to consumer behavior than is the relative visual prominence of the different pieces of information that the label contains.

OA later
B shows that the proposed ban would have a perverse effect, whereas E merely minimizes its effect in the event that the lettering is small. Since we are not given any information regarding how prominent the letter is, E is inconclusive. Choose B
Hello Kevin,

Could you please elaborate how B has a perverse effect?

I thought B to be a strengthener. B states that diabetic people identify a product as not containing any sugar if this is expressly stated. If the label has "sugar free" written on it, then diabetic people would interpret this product to be devoid of sugar and in fact may harm themselves by cosuming the product. This would strengthen the conclusion that such labels should be prohibited.

Thanks.

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by kevincanspain » Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:26 pm
prepgmat09 wrote:
kevincanspain wrote:
pnk wrote:The labeling of otherwise high-calorie foods as "sugar-free," based on the replacement of all sugar by artificial sweeteners, should be prohibited by law. Such a prohibition is indicated because many consumers who need to lose weight will interpret the label "sugar-free" as synonymous with "low in calories" and harm themselves by building weight-loss diets around foods labeled "sugar-free." Manufacturers of sugar-free foods are well aware of this tendency on the part of consumers.

Which one of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis for challenging the conclusion in the passage?
(A) Food manufacturers would respond to a ban on the label "sugar-free" by reducing the calories in sugar-free products by enough to be able to promote those products as diet foods.
(B) Individuals who are diabetic need to be able to identify products that contain no sugar by reference to product labels that expressly state that the product contains no sugar.
(C) Consumers are sometimes slow to notice changes in product labels unless those changes are themselves well advertised.
(D) Consumers who have chosen a particular weight-loss diet tend to persist with this diet if they have been warned not to expect very quick results.
(E) Exactly what appears on a product label is less important to consumer behavior than is the relative visual prominence of the different pieces of information that the label contains.

OA later
B shows that the proposed ban would have a perverse effect, whereas E merely minimizes its effect in the event that the lettering is small. Since we are not given any information regarding how prominent the letter is, E is inconclusive. Choose B
Hello Kevin,

Could you please elaborate how B has a perverse effect?

I thought B to be a strengthener. B states that diabetic people identify a product as not containing any sugar if this is expressly stated. If the label has "sugar free" written on it, then diabetic people would interpret this product to be devoid of sugar and in fact may harm themselves by cosuming the product. This would strengthen the conclusion that such labels should be prohibited.

Thanks.
Food labelled SF is indeed devoid of sugar, but not necessarily of calories
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