Why is unhealthy food so tasty?

tigersword

I don't see lots of food ads enticing people to get fat, either. Eating food, even junk food with a big advertising budget, does not make someone fat.

bluefox9er

Food companies spend millions every year developing tasty food products that will appeal to consumers.

In the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia,2 they test and tweak the perfect blend of salt, sugar and fat until it reaches something called the “bliss point” – where the taste becomes the most appealing and addicting possible.

That’s what the food giant General Mills did in 1999 when it created Yoplait, the first yogurt that contained 2X the sugar of Lucky Charms cereal while being advertised as healthy. The question is: Are they to blame? According to the CEOs of these food giants, consumers have the power of choice and could simply pick healthier foods if they wanted to.

But we know this just doesn’t happen, and that this mindset comes with a huge price – the rise in obesity, type-2 diabetes and a ton of health problems for millions of people. So that’s what you have to fight against every day. Hundreds of scientists running huge experiments to develop the most tasty, addicting, appealing and probably fattening food products possible.

No wonder your broccoli and chicken meal seems bland and boring. I’m convinced that one of the keys to inevitable fat loss is making sure you meals are as mouth-watering as they are fat burning.

it's pretty simple why: Fast food nation and food giants want you to buy their products and become 'addicted' to them. The pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in this, as people's well being deteriorates, they make money from treating you.

Couple that with powerful,strategically aimed marketing techniques, brand loyalty is signed up for life with not a contract in site.

We have the power to be responsible for what we eat and how much...It's just easier not to.

CyberEd312

See I read this title "Why is unhealthy food so tasty?" and all I can think is "Why do people have to group foods into categories of healthy and unhealthy?" To each their own....... Best of Luck................

bluefox9er

I don't see lots of food ads enticing people to get fat, either. Eating food, even junk food with a big advertising budget, does not make someone fat.

you miss the point totally.

big food corporations couldn't care less if you get fat or not. They just want you to BUY their products...you said it yourself that their food is 'junk'...

Confuzzled4ever

Sugar is evil.

It's up to the individual to choose healthy foods.

I think it's irresponsible for companies to promote a sugar laden product as healthy. People are ignorant on nutrition. Not the big companies fault. But they prey on those people. That's wrong Of course. Who says big business is ethical?

Individuals however are responsible for themselves. I do think *all* companies and restaurants have the responsibility to make an ingredient list available to the public for all foods they sell or prepare. I'm not too worried about calorie counts, because they are off 1 serving and what you receive is often 3 or 4 servings.

Did you know many canned tomatoes have high fructose corn syrup in them?? Why??? It's unnecessary. I supposed it makes them taste "better".. not to me.. but they add it in for a reason.

Sugar is not unhealthy. The quantity of it that is consumed each day is.

Plus.. if we didn't get fat and unhealthy.. what would the drug companies do with all those weight loss pills??

PikaKnight

Ok, serious question; why does the fact that massive corporations test their products to try and make them as marketable as possible treated by anyone as a revelation? Is it because we're talking about food products as opposed to say, web site design? Because the idea's the same; change variables in the product (fat/sugars/seasoning for mass produced food, clors and fonts and menu layouts for the site) so that people like it more.

Is it because they're using science on the food? Is the science suppose to scare me? Hell, I'm very pro-gmo; I want more genetic modifications to my food. I want the best of human intelligence making food more abundant, more easily produced, more flexible in it's growth requirements, more resistant to fungi. I want what was started when man first grew a crop...actually, scratch that, I want what was first started when man figured out meat + fire was better than meat alone, to continue. Why oh why would food science alarm me at all, when the only reason I have food is because of science? What, you think we got 6.5 or so billion humans on this mudball with unmodified nature? Lol.

As to food companies "manipulating" their foods to make them more appealing... spices. Multiple kinds of cookware. All the different ways to cook all the different parts of a pig. Once again, we've been manipulating the composition of our meals since we could cook, as opposed to just eating any old thing we found lying around as we found it. Is it suppose to be alarming now because we have more technology involved? Why?

TL;DR: Can someone tell me why the science of food taste and production is now alarming, when we've been doing it for thousands and thousands of years, because I'm drawing a blank.

I don't blame corporations AT ALL and I don't blame ANYBODY, but I think it's a real shame that how to calculate and manipulate your TDEE is not common knowledge. This should be right up there with sex ed. You NEED to know how many calories it takes to run your body... it's like driving a car with no gas guage otherwise.

Now that I know exactly what it takes to maintain or lose, my life is so much easier and I don't feel guilty about eating any kind of food because essentially everything on Earth is made of the same stuff. The first little while was a learning curve in the sense that some food is more satisfying than others but now that I'm groovin' it's become a piece of cake <- see what I did there?

PikaKnight

Sugar is evil.

Evil...I keep seeing people say this and I am beginning to genuinely think they don't understand it doesn't mean what they think it means.

But aside from that...you say it is "evil" but then....

Sugar is not unhealthy. The quantity of it that is consumed each day is.

so which is it? Is sugar evil or are people responsible for their own choices?

LiftAllThePizzas

Ok, serious question; why does the fact that massive corporations test their products to try and make them as marketable as possible treated by anyone as a revelation? Is it because we're talking about food products as opposed to say, web site design? Because the idea's the same; change variables in the product (fat/sugars/seasoning for mass produced food, clors and fonts and menu layouts for the site) so that people like it more.

Is it because they're using science on the food? Is the science suppose to scare me? Hell, I'm very pro-gmo; I want more genetic modifications to my food. I want the best of human intelligence making food more abundant, more easily produced, more flexible in it's growth requirements, more resistant to fungi. I want what was started when man first grew a crop...actually, scratch that, I want what was first started when man figured out meat + fire was better than meat alone, to continue. Why oh why would food science alarm me at all, when the only reason I have food is because of science? What, you think we got 6.5 or so billion humans on this mudball with unmodified nature? Lol.

As to food companies "manipulating" their foods to make them more appealing... spices. Multiple kinds of cookware. All the different ways to cook all the different parts of a pig. Once again, we've been manipulating the composition of our meals since we could cook, as opposed to just eating any old thing we found lying around as we found it. Is it suppose to be alarming now because we have more technology involved? Why?

TL;DR: Can someone tell me why the science of food taste and production is now alarming, when we've been doing it for thousands and thousands of years, because I'm drawing a blank.

Because science and technology are bad, and they're coming to get you! boogaboogaboogabooga!

mmapags

The better question is why have you posted 2 fear mongering, orthorexic posts after just joining? They seem to be trolling posts also as you get in the pulpit and preach then go away and never respond to any of the arguments made. Aren't you just special?

Maybe you need to do some "real" research before offering any more advice?

sloth3toes

Sugar is evil.

Evil...I keep seeing people say this and I am beginning to genuinely think they don't understand it doesn't mean what they think it means.

But aside from that...you say it is "evil" but then....

Sugar is not unhealthy. The quantity of it that is consumed each day is.

so which is it? Is sugar evil or are people responsible for their own choices?

Cute, but evil.

:bigsmile:

chezjuan

In the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia,2 they test and tweak the perfect blend of salt, sugar and fat until it reaches something called the “bliss point” – where the taste becomes the most appealing and addicting possible.

I basically do this in my kitchen... I I am constantly tweaking to get the flavors that my family and I like. And if my family likes a dish so much that it becomes a regular, I consider my cooking a success.

So, essentially, you are getting your family, 'addicted' to your cooking. For shame.

First my family, and then the world! Bwahahahahahaha!

tigersword

I don't see lots of food ads enticing people to get fat, either. Eating food, even junk food with a big advertising budget, does not make someone fat.

you miss the point totally.

big food corporations couldn't care less if you get fat or not. They just want you to BUY their products...you said it yourself that their food is 'junk'...

I didn't miss the point at all. Food companies don't care if you get fat, nor should they. Clothing companies don't care if you get fat, either, as they make clothes for thin people, also. Both companies are in it to make money, as all businesses are.

And just because food has a budget, doesn't make it junk. I never called it all junk, so don't put words in my mouth, please.

QuilterInVA

I do not eat processed foods. They are just chemicals and junk. When you get away from them and even have one bite, they taste terrible. There is nothing better than fresh foods properly seasoned and prepared.

melwa

I don't blame corporations AT ALL and I don't blame ANYBODY, but I think it's a real shame that how to calculate and manipulate your TDEE is not common knowledge. This should be right up there with sex ed. You NEED to know how many calories it takes to run your body... it's like driving a car with no gas guage otherwise.

[bold]Now that I know exactly what it takes to maintain or lose,[/bold] my life is so much easier and I don't feel guilty about eating any kind of food because essentially everything on Earth is made of the same stuff. The first little while was a learning curve in the sense that some food is more satisfying than others but now that I'm groovin' it's become a piece of cake <- see what I did there?

More info please!! Can you point where to learn about TDEE and how to identify what works? Cheers.

Mr_Knight

The question is: Are they to blame? According to the CEOs of these food giants, consumers have the power of choice and could simply pick healthier foods if they wanted to. But we know this just doesn’t happens...

Of course it happens! I'm perfectly capable of walking past the Yoplait, and so is everyone else. The CEO is absolutely right - they are giving consumers what consumers want.

This is like blaming me that my dinner guests are fat because I'm a damn good cook.

mmipanda

I really like Margaret Atwood's dystopian future (MaddAddam trilogy) - it has an interesting take on food production. They start mass producing lab-grown meat as a cruelty-free and cost-effective alternative. It tastes terrible, nothing like the food it replicates, but quickly becomes the norm. I can absolutely see that happening in our future.




Its all personal opinion and blah blah. But there is so much artificial flavouring packed into the highly-processed foods that you become desensitised to it. It takes less than a week of eating fresh, organic produce to realise just how overwhelming those flavours are.

Side note: I will always try to buy local produce rather than from supermarkets. I don't like the idea of eating an 11 month old apple that's been genetically modified to look pretty and taste sugary-sweet, at the expense of other elements that make an apple delicious. And I hate supermarket bananas - theyre such a vibrant yellow, underripe and hard, because they travel better that way. I prefer the softer, muddier yellow of an organic banana that was picked when it was ripe. Supermarkets and ~~the corporations~~ are so focused on appealing-looking food with a long shelf-life that they don't care about flavour, texture etc. That, imo, is the problem with current food mass production.

Confuzzled4ever

Sugar is evil.

Evil...I keep seeing people say this and I am beginning to genuinely think they don't understand it doesn't mean what they think it means.

But aside from that...you say it is "evil" but then....

Sugar is not unhealthy. The quantity of it that is consumed each day is.

so which is it? Is sugar evil or are people responsible for their own choices?

Ahhh you're right.. I should have said "added" sugar is evil.
Sugar in and of itself is not unhealthy. You need sugar for nutrition. It's all the extra sugar that is evil.

And yes. people are responsible for their own choices. And should choose foods without added sugar. Companies should be *clear* on what it in their food and what they add and what it actually is.