In case you’re like me and are interested in the topic but aren’t interested in watching someone talk forever:
00:00:00 In this section, the narrator discusses how food conglomerates like Kraft and Kellogg’s have manipulated food science and public perception to make ultra-processed foods a necessity rather than a want, leading to health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The food industry’s goal is to keep the public confused about what to eat, and they have attempted to sabotage the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s process of giving nutrition advice to the American public. Ultra-processed foods, which include many breakfast cereals, frozen dinners, sauces, and yogurt, are industrially produced and designed to be irresistibly delicious. Companies use large amounts of salt, sugar, and fat to mask the off-notes of the manufacturing process and extend shelf life. Kraft, for example, marketed their singles as a health food in 2015, despite the fact that they cannot legally be called cheese. The food industry’s tactics are reminiscent of Big Tobacco’s lies, and the evidence linking ultra-processed foods to disease is grim.
00:05:00 In this section, the speaker discusses how food companies partner with health organizations to create the illusion of endorsement for their ultra-processed foods. As research reveals the negative effects of such foods on health, food industries use various tactics to undermine the research and researchers. They cast doubt on the studies, discredit researchers, and even fund their own studies to show favorable results. The speaker also mentions the similarities between the food and tobacco industries, with food companies owned by tobacco companies until the mid-2000s and using similar misinformation playbooks. The speaker, Tera Fazzino, a psychology professor at the University of Kansas, shares her research on hyper-palatable foods, which are often produced by tobacco-owned food companies and are more likely to be addictive due to their nutrient combinations. The speaker’s perspective on the addictive nature of these foods changed during her research, as she discovered that foods produced by tobacco-owned companies were 29% more likely to be classified as hyper-palatable.
00:10:00 In this section, Michael Pollan recounts a conversation with a former Philip Morris lawyer who revealed that the heads of these companies don’t consume their own addictive products. Pollan explains that tobacco companies got out of the food business in the 2000s, but other non-tobacco-owned food companies took note of their successes and reformulated their products to maximize profits. The food industry now accounts for nearly 70% of the food supply, and Pollan argues that the narrative that individuals are solely responsible for overeating is a way for food companies to avoid accountability. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is currently considering the health effects of ultra-processed foods, and the Food and Beverage Issue Alliance, a trade group representing various food industries, has urged the committee to stop using the term “ultra-processed” until there is a consensus on a definition. Pollan emphasizes the importance of access to good scientific information and evidence-based dietary guidelines, as it took decades for the link between tobacco and cancer to be acknowledged and addressed.
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