8 ways the food industry can hijack your brain

Too much sugar, fat and salt

Most of the foods served at restaurants combine tempting amounts of sugar, fat, and salt. They are either loaded onto a core ingredient (such as meat, vegetable, potato, or bread), layered on top of it, or both. For instance:

Potato skins: The potato is hollowed out and the skin is fried, which provides a substantial surface area for “fat pickup.” Then some combination of bacon bits, sour cream, and cheese is added. The result: fat on fat on fat on fat, loaded with salt.

Buffalo wings: The fatty parts of a chicken get deep-fried. Then they are served with creamy or sweet dipping sauce that’s heavily salted. Usually they’re par-fried at a production plant, then fried again at the restaurant, which doubles the fat. The result: sugar on salt on fat on fat on fat.

Spinach dip: The spinach provides little more than color—a high-fat, high-salt dairy product is the main ingredient. The result: a tasty dish of salt on fat.

Easy-to-chew food

It's food that literally melts in your mouth. By eliminating the need to chew, modern food processing techniques allow us to eat faster and consume more calories.

Consider Chili’s boneless Shanghai chicken wings. Removing the bone reduces the need for chewing, making the food faster to consume. In addition, the wings contain a solution of up to 25 percent water, hydrolyzed soy protein, salt, and sodium phosphate. The water is there to bulk up the chicken – the industry calls this “reducing shrinkage.” Water is also cheaper than chicken breast, so it’s less costly to produce. And finally, water makes the food softer and chewing easier.

Brain conditioning

The food industry focuses on several factors to influence irresistability, including calories, flavor and ease of eating. Food scientists create “hyperpalatable” foods and the food industry markets “fun foods.” One way marketers make food fun is by adding dips or sauces, such as Dippables products.

Foods such as milkshakes and candy bars stimulate the appetite and prompt us to eat more even after we’re full. These foods layer sugar, fat, and salt in optimal amounts in a way that conditions our brains to eat more and more.

When in doubt, throw cheese and bacon in it

It's a standard joke in the world of chain restaurants. But it works. Along with enhancing melt and making food easy to eat, these layers are cheaper to produce than the central ingredient (such as meat or fish) they flavor. They’re also visually appealing, straightforward, and familiar.

Restaurants assemble food, not actually cook it

Restaurants make use of “individually quick frozen” foods. The processing, preservatives, and extra frying required for these kinds of foods add to the caloric content.

The myth of healthy grilled chicken

A common way to get marinade into meat is through needle injection. Hundreds of needles are used to pierce the meat, tearing up the connective tissue, to add solutions of salt, sugar, and fat. These injections not only increase flavor, but they also make the meat fall apart in our mouths.

Sneaky sugar

If a food contains more sugar than any other ingredient, federal regulations dictate that sugar be listed first on the label. So, manufacturers hide the amount of sugar by listing its different sources separately, pushing each down the list. Breakfast cereal, for example, often includes some combination of sugar, brown sugar, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, and molasses — each listed separately.

Creative chemistry

Chemical processing evolved to extend the shelf life of products and to lower food costs. More recently, the industry has directed its creative chemistry toward increasing sensations like “mouth feel” and finding new ways to artificially simulate real flavors using flavor enhancers. It’s all about creating novelty and impact to encourage people to consume more.