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Excerpts

Highly Palatable

Many of us have what's called a "bliss point", at which we get the greatest pleasure from sugar, fat or salt. Combined in the right way, they make a product indulgent, high in "hedonic value." During the past two decades, there has been an explosion in our ability to access and afford what scientists call highly "palatable" foods.

~ From The End of Overeating, by David Kessler (Via the guardian and msh258).

Reading List

Ex Fed Doc Goes Scientific on Junk Food Lust

Term of the day: "Hyperpalatable." Think airport Cinnabon, microwave popcorn or other impossible to ignore food that is scientifically engineered to "go down easy" and to take you to your "bliss point."  Credit the term to Dr. David A. Kessler, longtime head of the FDA, who's new book The End of Overeating is currently 18 on the relevant New York Times Bestseller list. "When it comes to stimulating our brains," Dr. Kessler writes, "individual ingredients aren’t particularly potent. But by combining fats, sugar and salt in innumerable ways, food makers have essentially tapped into the brain’s reward system, creating a feedback loop that stimulates our desire to eat and leaves us wanting more and more even when we’re full." Sounds promising: Crusading Fed doctor with chocolate chip cookie fetish explains the impressive science behind Taco Bell. Tara Parker-Pope has a nice, long review at The Well. Here's the plan: See Food, Inc., read Kessler, then join your local veggie food coop.