[One Sip of a Book] The Illusion of Eating Just Because You Want To Eat

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Can food be addictive like tobacco or drugs? The veteran journalist who won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on hamburger contamination answers that it certainly can. The modern diet dominated by processed foods, fast food, convenience meals, artificial sweeteners, and artificial flavors disrupts our taste buds and metabolism. Above all, it makes food more addictive. The author exposes how the processed food industry exploits human instincts evolved over long years for profit maximization, memories and emotions related to food, legal and policy loopholes, and our indifference. Moving from corporate boardrooms to food factories, courtrooms, legislatures, and laboratories, the book reveals the biological and social causes of food addiction.

Among all substances we can become addicted to, nothing stimulates the brain faster than food. More precisely, certain types of food do. The astonishing success of processed foods can be attributed in large part to their speed, evident in every aspect. The entire industry is based on speed, a characteristic that appears from the manufacturing plants onward. (...) Reducing production time cuts costs, allowing product prices to be lowered, making processed foods even more attractive and satisfying products. The speed at which consumers shop in supermarkets is also carefully calculated. (...) Most importantly, processed foods stand out for their speed even after reaching consumers' hands. They can be opened quickly, heated rapidly using microwaves, and most crucially, once in the mouth, they stimulate the brain quickly. --- From Chapter 2: Where Does Addiction Begin

Research shows that sugar and fat combined stimulate the brain more than when acting separately. However, foods in nature combining fat and sugar are rare. Even breast milk averages only 3.5% fat and 7% sugar. Yet fat and sugar are closely related to foods dominating modern diets. Typical processed snack foods contain 24% fat and 57% sugar. Processed food manufacturers add sugar even to savory items like hot dogs, spaghetti sauce, bread, and frozen chicken. About three-quarters of the foods we eat contain not only sugar additives but also huge amounts of salt, which further enhances the stimulation fat provides. --- From Chapter 3: Taste Is Memory

Researchers discovered a particular advantage for food companies in humans’ preference for variety. Consumers who seek variety tend to buy and eat more. (...) “Just look at supermarkets; the variety of food is enormous. Whether at home or in restaurants, the more types of food there are, the more we tend to eat until we get tired of it.” Food companies aiming to increase sales by exploiting humans’ desire for variety don’t actually need to change their products. Studies show that when people are distracted by watching TV or using their phones while eating, they eat more than when focusing on the food. When attention is on something as captivating as electronic devices instead of food, the brain forgets that it is eating. Then, when focus returns to the food, it feels as if the food has changed and appears new. As a result, we lose control over overeating. --- From Chapter 5: Stimulate the Instincts

Food Fixation | Michael Moss | Translated by Yeon Aram | Minumsa | 392 pages | 18,000 KRW