Food scientists are hard at work to help companies in the $550 billion processed-food industry to make "healthier" but tasty products, according to a well-researched article from New York Times reporter Melanie Warner.
The holy grail, Warner oberves, is to put less fat, white flour, sugar and salt into these processed foods — and more good stuff like whole grains, fiber and fish oil.
The mission of these food scientists is crucial, Warner observes: "developing foods that let consumers have their cake and eat it, too."
To me, that phrase "have their cake and eat it, too" signals that something is off kilter.
In my opinion, it’s simply sad that so many Americans aren’t appreciative enough of the natural flavors and tastes of vegetables, fruits, fish, etc.
Frankly, it simply doesn’t make sense to me why food scientists are messing with the wonderful flavor of foods just to put them in a processed, allegedly more tasty version.
Are Americans’ taste buds so skewed that they prefer processed over the real thing — natural, wholesome foods?
Even when I break down and have processed foods these days — such as occasional brown rice cakes or soy chips — I ultimately wonder why I turned to them in the first place when fresh fruits and veggies taste so much better.
In her New York Times article, Warner offers a compelling account of how the food industry is seeking to extract ingredients such as omega-3 fatty acids — which naturally occur in foods like fish and eggs — and put them into processed foods.
The fact remains, though — as renowned New York University nutritionist Marion Nestle points out in the story– pulling ingredients from their natural sources is never as good as the real thing.
Perhaps the most telling part of Warner’s New York Times story is this: "Food companies insist that, unlike their critics, they are pragmatists. They say their consumer research shows that convenience and taste still outrank nutrition as the top priority for most people and that consumers have no intention of giving up their favorite foods.
"This is good news for the industry. If Americans stopped eating large quantities of fried chicken, sweetened breakfast cereal, cookies and snack chips, the financial health of many companies would suffer."
How true.
However, the reality is that the physicial health of Americans is suffering from eating just those same foods in large quantities.