Why we overeat

Saturday May 9, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- With the obesity epidemic ballooning around the nation, millions of Americans are falling into a “conditioned hyper-eating” mode, says a new book.

Author David Kessler says Americans are being conditioned to eat foods that are “layered and loaded” with combinations of fat, sugar and salt even when we are not hungry. Kessler, former commissioner with the Food and Drug Administration, blames the food industry for reeling consumers in through their taste buds.

“The food industry has figured out what works,” he told The Associated Press. “They know what drives people to keep on eating.”

Instead of satisfying hunger, says Kessler, the salt-fat-sugar combination will stimulate the brain to crave more.

“It’s the next great public health campaign,” he said, “of changing how we view food and the food industry has to be part of it.”

His book, “The End of Overeating,” deals with how the brain becomes primed by different stimuli. Neuroscientists report that fat and sugar combinations in particular light up the brain’s dopamine pathway — the pleasure-sensing spot.

The food industry manipulates this response, he said, by designing foods to induce people to eat more than they should or even want. For instance, he said, the come-on phrase by Lay’s Potato Chips, “Betcha can’t eat just one,” is scientifically accurate.

Kessler gained attention last month for dumpster diving in his search for nutritional data to support his claims. He has been photographed dangling from dumpsters outside of chain restaurants searching for ingredient labels.

In his tenure with the FDA, Kessler earned the nickname “Elliot Ness-ler” for his actions to prevent misleading uses of the word “fresh” on foods. Kessler was appointed to the FDA in December of 1990 and served until 1997. His book, subtitled “Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite,” was published last week.

(By Sheilah Downey, and edited by Heather Kelley)