by Mikaela Conley U.S. Right To Know
Ultra-processed foods are industrially formulated with added sugar, artificial sweeteners, additives and flavorings to be highly rewarding and even addictive. They can alter the brain’s reward pathways the same way that other addictive substances do, making them challenging to consume in moderation.
In fact, a body of scientific research has emerged in recent years to show that some ultra-processed foods (UPFs) can be as addictive as cigarettes and cocaine.
Several major food brands were once owned by the world’s largest tobacco companies. Evidence suggests the same tactics used to formulate and market cigarettes were used in the creation of food products.
Finding the bliss point
Photo: MGN Online/Pixabay
Manufacturers of ultra-processed foods often seek to find the most alluring combination of salt, sugar, and fat in their products. This point of perfection is known as “the bliss point,” a term coined by American market researcher and food scientist Howard Moskowitz in the 1990s.
“The bliss point is just that sensory profile where you like food the most,” Moskowitz, who is known for his work on soft drinks and pasta sauces, told RetroReport. “There is no one bliss point. There are groups of bliss points.” Manufacturers usually work to locate the bliss point through rigorous focus-group testing, alongside the use of psychological research.
The bliss point triggers dopamine—a neurotransmitter in the brain that is responsible for feelings of pleasure and well-being—to spike, then crash. This brings about good feelings, then bad feelings, and generates the craving to feel good once more.
How ultra-processed food manufacturers addict consumers
Food companies not only research taste, but also consumers’ responses to color, smell, and “mouth feel” of products. And sometimes food scientists tweak a specific ingredient in products, like the salt, sugar, or fat itself, Michael Moss writes in his book, Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. For example, food scientists have changed the shape of fat globules to improve how products feel in the mouth. And they’ve ground salt finer, which helps the flavor hit the taste buds faster for an “improved flavor burst.”
“One hallmark of addiction is the speed with which substances hit the brain,” Moss explains in his 2021 follow-up book, Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addiction. “Measured in milliseconds, and the power to addict, nothing is faster than processed food in rousing the brain.” Along with speed, “addiction is also deeply enmeshed with memory, and the memories we create for food are typically stronger and longer lasting than any other substance. Childhood memories of food can wield an uncanny power over our eating habits for the rest of our lives.”
Today, about 57% of the calories American adults consume come from UPFs. That percentage rises to 67% in American children.
The continuation of this article will be published in an upcoming edition of The Final Call. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/