“They taste and smell real but are completely artificial in reality, tricking our bodies.” –Bruce Bradley, a former food industry executive

“Salt, sugar and fat are the three pillars of the processed food industry. The companies’ researches have 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, New York Times Investigative Report and author of Salt Sugar Fat.

Do our bodies really need salt, sugar and fat — from the snacks?

Can we as consumers make a rational choice on what and how much we consume according to our health situation?

Maybe, we cannot because for most, these products are convenience products but not shopping products.

With so many health problems arising such as obesity, where does the responsibility lie? The companies? The consumers? Or Both?

On one hand, publicly-held and profit-driven processed foods companies hire an army of chemists, physicists, neuroscientists and food scientists 1) to conduct numerous researches finding out how the customers are attracted to food and how they can make their foods (more) attractive to the customers. Considering fullness/satiety as serious enemy, snacks are made to be eaten non-stop until the packet is finished.

The scientists, carrying out a Unilever-funded research study, tested whether people’s perception of a chip was altered by the sound/crunch it made when they bit into it. They found a possible way to control the perception of the potato chips since “[they] were perceived as being both crisper and fresher when … the overall sound level was increased although the consumers are often unaware of the influence of such auditory cues.”

On another hand, I suggest the consumers need to learn how to have an equivalent amount of will power resisting these crunchy, tasty and temporarily-satisfying chips.

Sources: [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/food-cravings-engineered-by-industry-1.1395225

[2] Photo of Miss Vickie’s:  http://www.sld.com/before-and-after-miss-vickies/

[3] Photo of Lay’s: http://www.couponaholic.net/2012/06/new-0-551-lays-potato-chips-0-551-sun-chips-printable-coupons-plus-pepsi-mountain-dew-12-pack-coupons-still-available/