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updated 12/19/2006 11:27:07 AM ET 2006-12-19T16:27:07

Brian Wansink, Ph.D., author of "Mindless Eating — Why We Eat More Than We Think," is known as the "food psychologist" for his expertise in understanding of how packaging and personality traits influence our eating habits.

Wansink is head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. He is also director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, a series of test kitchens, restaurants, and cooperating grocery stores that are used to understand the psychology behind what people eat and how often they eat it. The focus of the lab's work is to help people eat more nutritiously and to better control how much they eat.

His research on consumption volume has won national and international awards for its relevance to consumers. His research has been widely featured on on television news networks, and has appeared multiple times on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

When he's not helping people avoid the traps of overeating, Brian plays tenor saxophone in a jazz quartet (“Shaken Not Stirred”) and in an eight-piece rhythm and blues dance band (“The Usual Suspects”).

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