menu
Member Sign In
  • IWFS Homepage
  • Blog Home
  • Forums Home
  • Global Forum
  • Contact Us
Close
  • IWFS Homepage
  • Blog Home
  • Forums Home
  • Global Forum
  • Contact Us
    Member Sign In
  • Blog Home
  • Forum Home
  • Global Forum
FOLOW US

Recent Posts

  • Ask Sid: A new popular white grape wine to try?
  • OLDER RHONE HERMITAGE WINES SHOW FULL FLAVOURED TERROIR SIGNATURE
  • Ask Sid: What is “replis” in wine making?
  • THREE WINES THIS WEEK DELIVER SURPRISING HIGHEST QUALITY DELIGHTFUL COMPLEXITY!
  • Ask Sid: Is the Gros Manseng grape being used in Bordeaux wines?

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Book review: Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

August 12th, 2016 by Joseph Temple

Michael Moss Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

By Joseph Temple

Salt, sugar and fat: the three magical ingredients that have made the food industry billions in profits.  For consumers strolling down the aisles of their local supermarket, it is almost impossible to leave without purchasing something containing at least one of these elements.  From frozen pizzas to fancy cheeses, not only are we buying them—we’re practically marinating in them.  So is it any surprise that America has become (and remains) the fattest country in the world?  Not only is half the population considered to be overweight, studies conducted from 2006 to 2008 showed that the obesity rate amongst children aged six to eleven has jumped nearly 20 percent.

So what responsibility do the companies that produce and market these products bare as diabetes and high blood pressure skyrockets across the nation?  It is a question that Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Michael Moss attempts to answer in his 2013 book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.   Tracing back the history of twentieth century food consumption, we learn that without these three ingredients, companies like Kraft and General Foods would not be the powerhouses that they are today.  That’s because on average, we consume 22 teaspoons of sugar and ten grams of salt per day, not to mention all that fat.  But is this the result of clever marketing or are we simply hard-wired to like these foods?  As one Kraft executive told the author, “This is not some big corporate plot to fatten up kids.  This is what kids want.  There are very few kids out there who will eat rice cakes and tofu.”

While human beings definitely have proclivities towards sweets and salty snacks, food scientists have taken it to a whole new methodical level as they come up with the next billion-dollar idea.  As Moss shows us, when it comes to sugar, they use what is known as the “bliss point”—the precise amount of sweetness that generates intense feelings of pleasure in our brains.  It is an exact science where too little or too much sugar can result in a dud that is quickly pulled off the shelves.  Describing this pivotal point, one expert states, “Pleasure from food is not a diffuse concept … it can be measured just as the physical, chemical and nutritional factors can be measured.  With more concrete status, the capacity of food flavors to evoke pleasure may start to be regarded as a real, tangible property of products, along with their nutritional status.”

Indeed, one of the most fascinating chapters of the book deals with the cereal industry, whose sales went from $660 million in 1970 to $4.4 billion by the mid-1980s.  Fueled largely by products that are loaded with sugar (e.g. Apple Cinnamon Cheerios contains 43 percent sugar) and aggressively marketed towards children, Moss aptly names the chapter “Is it Cereal or Candy?”  It’s ironic considering that the first cereals that entered the marketplace in the early twentieth century were designed to be nutritious alternatives to sausages and bacon at the breakfast table.

But as we learn, what works for sugar has absolutely no bearing on fat, an ingredient that has been more successful at flying under the radar with consumers.  In fact, scientists have known for many years that the more fat that is put in our food, the more we like it.  Citing numerous examples, from how it lessens the rubbery texture of hot dogs to how it can turn parched bread into silky loaves, fat is simply a miracle ingredient for manufacturers.  And when it comes to cheese, a food that most people do not identify as a fatty food despite the fact that it swimming in saturated fats, Americans are eating approximately 33 pounds of it per year.  To coin a term from the industry, we all have become “heavy users.”

Realizing that the family unit has changed dramatically over the past fifty years, food companies have also made convenience their biggest selling point.  With stressed-out parents overworked and less likely to make a homemade meal, processed and frozen foods, which usually contain high amounts of sodium, have filled the void at the dinner table.  Again, the research that is presented to the reader is simply fascinating, such as the cost-benefit analysis many parents are forced to make, which plays right into the hands of these companies.  “When you have kids, the question becomes, What can I buy that won’t cost much, that the kids will eat, and that won’t take long to prepare?” asks one study.  “For them the question becomes, how many dishes can you cook with potatoes and carrots before you say, ‘Kentucky Fried is not so bad after all’?”

Coming under fire from various consumer groups and to a lesser extent, the federal government for loading their products with these unhealthy ingredients, food manufacturers have become masters at projecting change even when there is little to none.  As people became more concerned about the negative effects of sugar over-consumption, Kellogg’s quickly changed Sugar Frosted Flakes to just Frosted Flakes. Two percent milk, which implies that it’s 98% fat free doesn’t let you know that whole milk only is one mere percentage point higher.  And many potato chip companies have printed the amount of fat on the label per serving instead of the total amount in the bag.  As you take in all these examples, it will make you think twice before buying a product that is listed as “fat-free” or “low in salt.”

Of course, the central question of the book is what role does the government play?  Some would argue that it is strictly the parents’ responsibility to ensure their child receives a healthy diet.  But with deceptive marketing combined with the fact that mothers and fathers are burning the candle at both ends, do they really have the time to investigate whether or not their child’s attentiveness will increase by 20 percent if they eat Frosted Mini-Wheats—a claim that the Federal Trade Commission said was clearly false and misleading?

Realizing the growing backlash against foods containing unhealthy levels of these three ingredients, Moss gives us a behind-the-scenes account of a meeting held between the food executives in 1999 to discuss the ramifications of their business strategies.  In the city of Minneapolis, CEOs from Nestle, Kraft, Nabisco, Coca-Cola and others met to discuss a possible dim future where their products would be lumped in with cigarettes as hazardous to the nation’s health, preventing them from advertising on television.  With the reader acting as a fly on the wall, it is one of the highlights of Salt Sugar Fat as you witness what could have been a major turning point for the industry.

Overall, Moss succeeds at giving us a candid look at the decisions that go into what we eat.  Through meticulous research, which includes numerous interviews with some of the most powerful players in the business, you start to realize how important it is to be an informed consumer.  With a government that is largely unable and unwilling to help, you’ll probably spend a little more time studying the labels at your local grocery store after reading this important and engaging book.

 


You might also like:

Does the government have a role in regulating the salt, sugar and fat content that's in our food?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
August 12th, 2016 by Joseph Temple
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

The object of the Society is to bring together and serve all who believe that a right understanding of good food and wine is an essential part of personal contentment and health and that an intelligent approach to the pleasures and problems of the table offers far greater rewards than the mere satisfaction of appetite.
Andre Simon Wine & Food Society Founder (1933)
© 2025 The International Wine & Food Society (IW&FS) IW&FS
Credits | Privacy | Accessibility