Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions

Food can be truly addicting. However, the nature of addiction has many different facets. Our food preferences also start when we are young. For many people in the US, the "native food" is the junk fast food that we have grown up with. He have had this food marketed to us from our infancy and continue to prefer it. Some people are much more susceptible to it than others. To some people, a simple ad for McDonalds can trigger the craving. Similar to many other addictions, it is the longing for food that drives it - a longing which can sometimes not be fully satisfied by consuming the food.

The science of how we crave food is interesting. In a study with chocolate lovers, they kept eating the chocolate, even though it stopped bringing pleasure. In other studies with reduced calorie drinks, it was found that a "midpoint" seemed to provide the best experience. Even with things that tasted the same, the body could sense the one that had fewer calories. However, people ended up preferring the one that did not have the most calories. While this could be interesting, there could also be a number of confounding factors. The multiplicity of factors is a regular problem with eating studies. Food is such an integral part of our lives that it is difficult to fully test it out.

This book is well written, but seems to continue on the same themes of the author's previous book (Sugar, Salt, Fat). Food producers love to chase whatever is the "fad" of the day to make what the public "desires". There is a science of producing the ideal taste to maximize revenue. Will junk food end up suffering the same ignominy of big tobacco?

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

Salt + Sugar + Fat = delicious. After reading this book I found myself snacking on some salted butter and sugar. That really is the basis of great taste. I can easily see how companies would love to use this to manipulate customers. There is plenty of nastiness uncovered in this books. By using the cheapest possible sugars and fats, companies can create highly desirable foods for cheap prices. Nutrition takes a back seat in the production of the things that people crave. In many cases companies know the negative impacts of what they are doing, yet they let the market decide. Yes, the processed food that we get today is scary. Our best solution is to sacrifice convenience and cost for home-made meals. Big food knows this and has further infiltrated the kitchen, producing items such as the Betty Crocker cookbook (that subtly encourages using convenient food products like bisquick and margarine.