Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist reveals why oranges are sold in red net bags

Next time you grab a bag of oranges at the supermarket, take a closer look at the packaging. Chances are they are in a red net bag, and it turns out this bag is not just for convenience - it’s a clever trick to make the fruit look more appealing.

New research in the journal i-Perception finds that the red netting creates an optical illusion, making the oranges appear more vibrant and ripe than they might actually be. This in turn makes you think the oranges in a red bag are more ripe than the ones that are loose next to them, and so you might purchase more oranges than you had planned because they appear to be riper - even though they are exactly the same.

The technique is based on the confetti illusion, a visual phenomenon where a neutrally coloured object, such as a ball, appears to change colour based on the surrounding coloured patterns. In this illusion, when the ball is placed among an array of differently coloured lines, the colour of the ball assimilates to the colours of the lines, making it appear to take on hues that are not actually present in the ball itself.

When applied to oranges, the red net essentially enhances the orange colour, making the fruit look juicier and more enticing.

The same trick works for lemons too - and now you know the trick, you will notice they often come in yellow or green net bags as these have been found to intensify their natural colour.

So, next time you’re shopping and eyeing up the oranges and lemons, remember that colourful netting isn’t just a way to carry your fruit, it’s also a subtle way to trick your eyes and make you think you are selecting more ripe and juicy fruit than you actually are.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joining me now to talk science is doctor Michelle Dikinson.
Then a girl, Good morning, Good morning. We just hit
to Kickstea. Were kicking Steve out of the studio.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
We're having a great chat.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm getting some good tips on how to deal with
young people going out in town late at night.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
It was good advice, very helpful.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Thank you, Steve. We'll continue that conversation another time, but
we are going to talk about some of the little
tips and tricks that supermarkets used to convince us to
buy some products. And you've got some really fascinating information
today about out oranges.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
This is a great scam. I love this. So it's
in the journal I Perception. It's just been published and
it's and it's also go have I read. It's quite
fun and I just didn't realize that this trick was
happening to me too. But here you go. So I
buy oranges, my kids eat. I don't know how many
oranges a week. It's out of control. And I'll go
into the supermarket and I see that, you know, there's
a bag of oranges in a little rednet or there's

(01:03):
loose oranges, and I go, I only really need three oranges,
but look at the bag that have got eight in it,
and they just look so much nicer.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
And they're already conveniently picking.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
And they're in this little bag. And I'm like, Okay, well,
I wasn't planning on buying eight oranges, but they're nice
in juicy and they'll be right for my kids. Great,
I'll just grab eight. So now I'm buying double the
amount of oranges every week because they're in this nice
red bag. It's a scam. It's a total scam. So
here's what this study says. Basically, there's a good reason
why these are in red net bags, and it's not coincidence.

(01:36):
It's an optical illusion and it is called the confetti illusion.
If you google the confetti illusion you will see it
in action. They basically take gray or beige spheres or balls,
and they put little stripes in front of them. Sort
of imagine like you've got a thin jail cell in
front of these balls, and depending on the color of

(01:57):
the stripe, the beige or gray ball that all the
same color will look a different color because your eye
just starts to blend these colors together. And even though
these little balls in the background are all the same color,
you perceive them to be a different color. And so
the trick is, if you have green stripes in front
of a beige ball, it looks yellow and green. And
if you have red stripes in front of a beige ball,

(02:20):
it looks more yellow. So what's happening here? And I'm
going to tell you it's not just oranges, it's lemons too.
So with the oranges, if you put red stripes or
the red mesh in front of an orange, it makes
your orange look more orange. So you think, oh, that's
a juicy, ripe orange. Whereas if you took it out
of the bag, which you can't do, it would look

(02:40):
exactly the same as the ones that are loose next
to you. Do the same for lemons. So lemons usually
come in a yellow or a green mesh, not coincidence.
Yellow and green mesh make lemons look more yellow. And
so you go, nice and ripe. I'm going to buy
the bag of twenty instead of the.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
And I think, do you know the raison ice to
grab them was, I'd think to myself. And this was
before we had piper Baggs in the soupma I got, oh,
look I'll use it. That's not plastic, and of course
it is. It's like I think it's a polypropyly not something.
So I was just thinking, oh, then it looks better
than grabbing a plastic bag of oranges.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
It's worse for the environment, and it's tricking your eyes.
So if you're buying more oranges than you ever wanted
because you think they look juicy in the red bag,
it's a scam. And this lovely study and I perception
goes through the science behind the confetti illusion, how you're
being scammed basically, and if you just want one oranger, says,
just buy the one orange and it's literally the same.

(03:34):
You can do this. You'll get home if you want.
So if you buy the rednecks, put it over different
fruit and have a look at how it changed your
perception of the color. It will make it look more ripe.
It is not more ripe. Save your money, buy the loose.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
I love it. Thank you so much, Michelle.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudken, listen
live to news Talks. It'd be from nine am Sunday
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio