Food Technologists and their Irresistible Foods

By Maica G.

Image taken in Tokyo, Japan olympic stadium capturing the 5000 meter men’s T54 wheelchair final (Lisi Niesner)

You may find yourself with a bag of chips in front of a screen grabbing one chip after the other in an unconscious manner. When we eat junk foods we are responding to our emotional center in our bodies which in turn acts as a coping mechanism. The crunch and burst of taste in our mouths when we eat one chip after the other matches perfectly with an entertaining film. We just can’t get enough of our sweet and savory snacks, how do we get so hooked on these deadly foods?

Processed foods are types of foods that have been changed from their natural state, and often they do not fit into any sort of food group. Majority of the nutrients in processed foods are removed and replaced with additive fiber and minerals. These foods have a large amount of added alternatives and sugars which causes it to be stripped of its healthful value and aren’t necessarily healthy for your body.

WHAT MAKES PROCESSED FOODS IRRESISTIBLE?

These snacks are irresistible, we crave them and it’s difficult to overcome these cravings. Processed foods are measured with the perfect amounts of the three pillars of the food industry: salt, sugar, and fats. According to American journalist Michael Moss, "And while the industry hates the word 'addiction' more than any other word, the fact of the matter is, their research has shown them that when they hit the very perfect amounts of each of those ingredients … they will have us buy more, eat more."

Michael Moss with his second book about the food industry published in 2021.

When the exact amounts hit a ‘bliss point’ accompanied with the crunch this causes food to simply be irresistible to the public. In order to make food irresistible, food technologists along with the food industry go as far as researching connections with the taste receptors of your tongue and how it affects a chemical reaction in your brain.

I’ve gone through a time when the only thing I would eat for a snack was cheetos. I’d eat cheetos in the middle of the day and even as a midnight snack. This was such an unhealthy addiction for myself, even though I knew it wasn’t doing any good for my body I still continued to consume large amounts of this snack. I never knew how these snacks affected my body and frankly I didn’t pay much attention to the side effects.

ARE ALL PROCESSED FOODS BAD?

Naturally, the word processed food itself will bring a negative connotation to your head, there are slightly processed foods that can benefit you such as minimally processed foods. There are 4 steps of processed foods: Unprocessed, minimally processed, processed, and ultra-processed which essentially are junk foods. Washing, canning, or freezing are some ways that foods can be minimally processed. The purpose of these foods are for easy access for instance, preservable foods are minimally processed for the intention of staying fresh for a long period of time. Preservation also contributes to reducing waste as it extends shelf life. Comparing frozen foods to fresh foods, the amount of food waste reduced can go up to six-fold.

Froot Loops package update in January 3, 2022.

Heavily processed foods that should be avoided are sausages and bacon that contain saturated fats and are high calorie foods. Others are more obvious such as breakfast cereals which include large amounts of artificial flavors. Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops are examples of artificially flavored cereals. Although these brands may know that their products don’t benefit our bodies, they claim that “natural ingredients are a turn off to most customers”, says a Forbes article.

WHAT IS THE RESULT OF PROCESSED FOODS?

Consuming large amounts of high-calorie processed foods poses a difficulty when trying to maintain a healthy weight. Often, these foods seem much easier to digest than normal which causes a lesser amount of calories to be burned when you take in processed foods. According to experts, these foods have a 50% lower caloric burn than their natural form. It’s a better choice to stick to foods closer to their natural counterparts which contain all the nutrients that are needed.

HOW CAN WE LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF PROCESSED FOODS WE EAT?

In order to ensure that the food we are consuming is beneficial for us, the simplest thing to do is looking at the labels in the packaging. Trans fat, sodium, and sugars are what the majority should look out for in labels. An unhealthy amount of these ingredients consumed by the population comes from highly processed foods. Most of the time when you cook at home, you are aware of the ingredients that you are adding to your meals which makes this a healthier option for you to choose. Not only cooking but certain frozen meals may be beneficial to you though they are minimally processed.

Although we may try limiting the amounts of processed food we eat while searching for alternatives, daily things we encounter prevent us from committing to such things.

The interior of grocery stores forces us to keep purchasing specific foods. We need to pass through aisles filled with sweets, chips, and other sorts of ultra-processed foods in order to reach sections that we need in our daily lives such as meat. The meat or frozen section is usually located in the middle of the grocery or a place where there is no other way to enter but to pass the aisle filled with unhealthy foods. Not only that, but some breakfast cereals add designs and patterns in the back of the packaging to cause buyers to purchase more of their product to complete the puzzle. These are just some examples of how the food industry uses the public and their cravings for profit.

Froot Loops new 2022 packaging with new solvable puzzles in the back.

Achieving this goal is difficult for a great number of people as everyone should maintain a healthy diet but at the same time enjoy the foods that are incorporated in our diet. Keeping healthy snacks and replacing refined grains to whole grains are just the beginning of transforming your diet into a healthier one.

Some solutions people may think of is eating the exact same foods with alternative substitutes, though the substitutes people are looking for may be too extreme as they would want to consume what they know would please them. Healthier sugar substitutes are just one of the examples that the public is using which are said to cause harm to your body such as risks in cardiovascular events such as heart diseases. Coke-Zero, a fan favorite drink, contains this sugar substitute as the goal is to limit the sugar intake and control your weight while providing the “signature Coca-Cola flavor” , says Healthline.com. A vast variety of foods and drinks that are aiming for a low (or zero) calorie intake normally would add these substitutes which with research would risk the cause of a stroke or heart attack.

Processed foods are extremely persuasive in their own ways whether it’s the packaging or the way they are advertised. Therefore, we should be aware of the dangers of these foods and the amount of science that goes into the procedure of creating processed foods that causes them to simply be irresistible.

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