' The Extraordinary Science Of Addictive Junk Food?

Improved Essays
Big Name Companies and the Tending Addiction of Processed Food
“The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food”, an expert from The New York Times Magazine, by Michael Moss addresses many issues with big companies and their thought process. Although Moss neglects to show the things that companies do right or do because the consumer desires it. He doesn’t bring to light the different options that big companies put out that are healthier for the consumer. Moss does a good job of pointing out what he believes to be the short coming of big companies towards their consumers. Are big food companies meeting our needs or creating them for us? Should they have to set limits between meeting our genuine needs and making a profit for themselves? Moss’s
…show more content…
When looking at consumer’s choices, two of the concerns are ease of use and time. Drane specifically points out that mothers are arguably the main shoppers when it comes to food, as trying to find ways to keep the family fed and be time efficient. The faster pace that consumer’s live by today is not taken into consideration when looking at Moss’s article. Consumers have become more stagnant in their lives. Life styles are no longer active, everything has become automated. Exercise is now a luxury and not a necessity. Consumers no longer look at the labels to see what nutrition benefits are in the food they are buying, they are more concerned about price and time. I’m a prime example of this, when at the grocery store I look for what is quick and easy over what is healthier for …show more content…
Sensory-specific satiety refers to overwhelming flavors of foods that confuse the consumer’s brain into thinking they want more or need to keep eating more. This brings us to the topic of are big food companies meeting our needs or creating them for us? From personal experience of watching my grandma make everything from scratch, I believe big companies such as, General Mills, Oscar Mayer, and many others are creating needs for us. Before reading Moss’s article I never would have assumed that Prego spaghetti sauce has two teaspoons of sugar per serving or that lunchables have “[…] as many as nine grams of saturated fat, or nearly an entire day’s recommended maximum for kids, with up to two-thirds of the max of sodium and 13 teaspoons of sugar” (section 2). Do these products really need this much sugar to make them taste good? Personally, I don’t believe so, I feel that in adding a continual stream of additive and extra sugar to create both a desire and craving for these foods is only making more sales and money for big companies. If Sanger is right people will still buy the foods they like even without all that added sugar and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In America food companies rely on synthetic nutrients and other unhealthy ingredients to sell their products. These ingredients, with little or no nutritional value are added to thousands of food products that we consume everyday. These…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sugarman thinks it is expensive for industries to do what the government is commanding them to do for example, if the government command them to subsidize the fruits and vegetables, it can cost them a lot of money. He also believes that instead of banning the sale of sweetened beverages in school and working places the government should let the industries choose whether they want to reduce sweetener in their food or just limiting selling of that food. In other words he believes the companies will respond to the demands of…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    You know Twinkies and Ho-hos, go-gurts and Lucky Charms; you know Dr. Pepper and Pepsi, and Totino’s and Blue Bell. But do you recall how much sugar is in them all? Without literally reading their nutrition labels, author Michael Moss assembles the facts about snacks and explains what makes these food-products as tempting as they are. Additionally, Moss uses his article, “The Extraordinary Science of Addicting Junk Food,” to establish a case which labels food manufacturers as chief culprits in the American obesity epidemic. Nevertheless, Moss’s article presents a few logical fallacies in the areas of ethos, but beautifully uses logos and pathos to express his main idea.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Michael Moss begins his book, Salt Sugar Fat, by describing a secretive event that occured between CEOs from many top food brands, such as Kraft, General Mills and Pillsbury. These corporate officials met to discuss the issues of childhood obesity and the poor diets of many Americans, in order to discuss a way to solve this problem. Many of these companies have pumped their products full of salt, sugar and fats to make them more appetizing to humans taste buds, making them almost addictive for the general public who consumes these products. Although the idea of fixing this issue may seem like a beneficial option to many, the CEOs of these companies shot these ideas down in fear of losing customers. Later on in the Prologue, Moss describes how…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Big Food Strikes Back” also familiarizes the readers with the corporate food…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Food corporations have come to a point where they are more interested in how well their company is doing rather than the country’s health. So ultimately, the rise in obesity is because of these food productions little interest to care about the health of the country. In Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, he proves that food corporations are only interested in the money rather than the well-being of the country. He says that a “cheaper agricultural commodities [are] driving food companies to figure out new and ever more elaborate ways to add value and so induce us to buy more” (Pollan 96).…

    • 2977 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It appears that we as individuals are so subsequently busy that we cannot even make sufficient time to contemplate sustainable and healthier selections other than Jack in the Box, Mcdonalds, etc. Fast food is whispering in our ears all the time through unrealistic commercials, deals, catchy sayings, and it’s simple convenience. We have deadened our rationality due to fast food’s onslaught of advertising and our constant giving in and consumption of the fattening…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the twenty-first century we have become ingrained in a culture through which McDonaldized systems (through rules, regulations and scripts), have ultimately come to threaten the ability of those involved to think intelligently (Ritzer, 1998). It is clearly dehumanizing to find oneself mindlessly functioning like a robot within corporately structured systems. Chipotle's advertisement (2013), promotes themselves as a company that has been able to detach from the demanding, hegemonic structure, which further promotes an image of the company that is not “real” or “true”. McDonaldization of the food industry and the lack of control a person has over what is in the food they eat has created a runaway juggernaut.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the text "How Junk Food Can End Obesity" by David H. Freedman describes how today wholesome food companies have shifted our view that all wholesome foods are better for you than junk food. Freedman uses health examples of different foods and he uses personal examples to back up his claim. Freedman is a journalist who has a blog and writes for famous newspapers. He also writes about science, technology and business. Another is he consults and writes about medical problems with medical colleges.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    America has easily become one of the most obese countries in the world, due to the overwhelming consumption of fast food. Whether fast food is controlled by the government or not, and whether it is the consumer’s choice to eat fast food or not, there is no question that obesity is a serious health issue in the United States. David Zinczenko author of “Don’t Blame the Eater”, believes that producers of fast food are the ones to blame for obesity. On the other hand, Radley Balko author of “What You Eat Is Your Business”, believes the consumer should be held accountable for their own eating habits. David Zinczenko and Radley Balko both argue that obesity is a problem in the United States.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Michael Moss was referring to the Prego brand when stating this, these companies purposely put a ton of sugar into their products specifically for the endorphin release. Endorphins give humans a sensation of happiness. The happiness is addicting, because humans want to be happy, to escape from the stress. And the easiest way to get that is through the processed foods. Once consumers start eating processed foods, the endorphin release makes them want more, to a point where they cannot stop.…

    • 1749 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the world that we live today, food industries produces low end fat products that are slowly becoming the norm in today’s society. Many consumers do not understand the process of how their food is made, through nor do consumers know where their food originates from. When consumers are exposed to advertisements and commercials, they are drawn into the products that big food companies are trying to sell. In the short essay “The Pleasures of Eating” by Wendell Berry, Berry talks about how consumers do not know where their food comes from and how people are consuming foods with toxic chemicals. In “When a Crop Becomes King” by Michael Pollan, Pollan states that companies are putting corn related products into everyday foods, which are leading into bad eating habits.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As also stated in one of Moss’ previous books, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, these ingredients are added to processed foods to have consumers crave more. For the average person, the recommended sugar intake is about 6 teaspoons per day. With major food companies adding sugar to all of their foods, it is easy to go over the recommended amount. For example, a simple jar of spaghetti sauce contains sugar. As Moss previously said about this extra ingredient to pasta sauce “the food industry already knew some things about making people happy—and it started with sugar……

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Second part After reviewing strategies and growth opportunities that had the fast food industry and how is constantly innovating to survive in this changing world, it will be explored from the weakness of this highly mechanized industry, which has remained hidden, with the consent of the some government agencies, for US consumers and the world in general. This analysis will consider the movie "Fast Food Nation" and the documentary " Super Size Me", which shows how some corporations largely control the food supply, and often prioritize their profits above health consumers, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and the environment. (Fast Food Nation, 2006). Based on the documentary “Super Size Me”, I can see that seeks…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    She argues that the poor, despite their limited economic resources, try to follow dominant American cultural practices, in order to express their membership in society, and food is seen as a tool to "eat oneself into the middle class". On he other hand, there are strong cultural beliefs that the poor "should eat differently because they are different. " She shows how the poor try to overcome deprivation by buying popular and heavily advertized junk food, which however damages them more than the affluent who are able to afford both junk food and nutritious food and thus balance its negative effects. Similarly, the poor families she has studied regard food and drink as important to social interaction, as others do.…

    • 2147 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics