WHAT I'M READING

I just finished reading a book titled The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, M.D.  This book has absolutely changed the way I look at food (whether it is in restaurants or grocery stores) and it has made me hate the U.S. Food Industry (more than I already did).  There have been a few other books or documentaries that have had a similar impact on me…namely Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and Food, Inc. by Robert Kenner (producer/director) and Eric Schlosser (co-producer).

The author offers a unique perspective on the food industry.  He served as the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under two presidents (Bush Sr. and Clinton).

I’ll post a full-blown book review in the near future, but for now I mainly just wanted to share a few things that I’ve learned.

Palatability – in everyday language the word “palatable” means that a food has an agreeable taste.  When scientists use the word, they are referring to the food’s ability to stimulate the appetite.  In other words, it is the ability of the food to motivate you to pursue more of that food.  The food industry’s goal is to make foods “hyper-palatable”.

Sugar, Fat, and Salt – these are the three variables that can be used in combination to manipulate a food’s palatability.  The tendency to like sweetness is pretty self-explanatory; fat adds to a foods texture, flavor, and aroma; salt is a trickier one, where a little salt goes a long way and the proper amount (from the manufacturer’s perspective) varies depending on what food it is in (chips vs. soup, for instance).  “Usually, the most palatable foods contain some combination of sugar, fat, and salt.”

The Bliss Point – there is a “perfect” combination of the three variables that results in the greatest pleasure to the consumer, and this point is the target of food manufacturers.  This bliss point, when combined with excessive processing so that the food literally falls apart (or “melts”) in your mouth, results in maximum reward to the consumer and minimum satiety.  Let me put that into a simple, mathematical equation for you:

Maximum Reward + Minimum Satiety = Consumer Buys More of the Product

Conditioned Hypereating – “chronic exposure to highly palatable foods changes our brains, conditioning us to seek continued stimulation.  Over time, a powerful drive for a combination of sugar, fat, and salt competes with our conscious capacity to say no.”  Dr. Kessler describes a conditioned hypereater just like you would think of a compulsive gambler…they know that they cannot afford any more losses at the blackjack, but they have “lost control” and feel compelled to continue gambling.  It’s the saying “double-up to catch up” except when it comes to food it’s “double-up to become morbidly obese and diabetic.”

There were many other very interesting things I learned from the book.  I’ll share one of them with you, but I’m gonna make you think a little bit for the answer…

Here is a little trivia for you to test your knowledge of food labels and nutrition facts:

Take a look at the following sample food label (focus on the ingredients list at the bottom).  I found the picture on the internet, so I’m not exactly sure what product it is (but it is a cereal).  The actual product doesn’t matter.  After looking at the ingredients list, what jumps off the page at you?

click for full-size image

To be honest, there are probably quite a few things that you could list as jumping off the page.  However I was primarily focused on the fact that the ingredients include all of the following:  sugar, high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, and corn syrup.  That’s 4 different sweeteners in 1 product!!

Now it’s time for the Trivia Question…

QUESTION:  Why would a food manufacturer include 4 different sweeteners in the same product?

HINT:  It has nothing to do with cost of the ingredients or the taste that results from combinations of different ingredients.

ANSWER:  It’s a psychological game that the manufacturer is playing with the consumer.  As you probably (or hopefully) know, the ingredients list is ordered in terms of most abundant to least abundant (the first ingredient on the list is the largest single ingredient and so on).  By using 4 different sweeteners in the product, the manufacturer has reduced the quantity of each single sweetener, therefore they can appear further and further down the list.  The typical “health-conscious” consumer (as in someone who reads the labels) would likely see that sugar is not the first ingredient and therefore conclude that the product is not “sugar-laden” so it must be a good choice.

SIDE NOTE:  It’s also interesting that the label includes partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil and partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils.  In case you didn’t know, that means that the product has trans fat in it.  Yet if you look up at the label under the Total Fat section you’ll notice that it gives the Total Fat and then the Saturated Fat…no mention of trans fat.  Why is that?  Well if a serving size (which can be manipulated in any way the food manufacturer wishes) contains 0.5g or less of trans fat, they are not required by law to include it on the label.