Researchers have found that Oreos are as addictive as cocaine, at least for lab rats. According to the new study, eating the black and white cookies activated more neurons in the rat brain’s pleasure centre than drugs such as cocaine.
This conclusion is weak, the rats were subjected to two separate tests:
Test 1: Oreo's or Rice Cakes - Rats chose Oreo's Test 2: Saline injection or Cocaine - Rats chose Cocaine
Taking two separate tests and saying that "Orea's are as addictive as Cocaine" is really bad science. All it's saying is that Rats prefer Oreo's to Rice Cakes (who doesn't?) and Rats prefer Cocaine to Saline. Making a link between the two is wrong.
The real test would have been to have a maze with 4 options - Saline, Rice Crackers, Oreos and Cocaine. If an equal number of rats ended up at the Oreos and Cocaine then you could say the two addictions were comparable.
