The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

In an article, The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, Michael Moss wrote an article to shed light on how junk food is made to be extremely addictive and how its advertised. He begins with explaining how the heads of major food companies, Nestle, Kraft, Nabisco, General Mills, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Mars gathered together for a meeting. Their main topic of discussion was the enormous obesity epidemic and what they were going to do about it. James Behnke, the executive at Pillsbury, had a plan in order to help diminish America’s weight problem, but many of the other heads of the other companies were not too keen on changing anything. This article is one example of how greed can change an entire country.

The first speaker was the vice president of Kraft named Michael Mudd. He gave an extensive speech with a 114 slide presentation with facts and data regarding Americans and obesity. He said, “More than half of American adults were now considered overweight, with nearly one-quarter of the adult population – 40 million people- clinically defined as obese. Among children, the rates had more than doubled since 1980, and the number of kids considered obese had shot past 12 million.” He also highlighted the major effect on children in order to appeal to their emotions. This would convince them to follow Behnke’s plan.

He then connected all of the companies products to cigarettes and many of the other heads of the companies were immediately offended. Then, Stephen Sanger, head of General Mills, spoke up. He said, “Don’t talk to me about nutrition. Talk to me about taste, and if this stuff tastes better, don’t run around trying to sell stuff that doesn’t taste good.” His reaction and way of thinking is a perfect example of the greed America is suffering from. The heads of the companies don’t want to change the way their products are made since it leads to them being addictive. And if they are addictive, consumers will by more of them, leading to more sales for the companies. But, the sugary, salty, and fatty foods are horrible for the human body in the amounts Americans eat daily. The consumption of fatty foods directly correlate with increased blood pressure and increase the chance of developing diabetes. The ignorance and avarice of the CEOs and executives of America’s largest food companies are directly correlated with the influx in obesity in adults and especially children.