In this portion of Kessler’s book, he discusses the role that the food industry plays in creating the insatiable American appetite. Restaurants formulate their recipes and produce their food specifically to make it irresistible in multiple ways. For instance, Cinnabon, the cinnamon roll food chain, creates their cinnamon rolls so that they are extremely easy to swallow- they melt in your mouth. Grandma’s tried-and-true recipe was altered/perfected in such a way that it would taste just like she had always made them and be swallowed so easily/rapidly that the consumer continues to eat them- and eat them. Restaurants also achieve the consumer’s yearn to continue eating by creating foods that have the multisensory appeal (ex. by layering fat on sugar on salt).
I see through all this why restaurant food is so expensive. Ingredient costs can’t be all that expensive. The high priced foods must be the result of hours and hours in the kitchen or lab to formulate the recipe that makes food most appealing. Because, in the grand scheme of things, restaurants aren’t trying to make customers happy. They’re trying to make customers fall in love with food, so they’ll keep wanting more, so the restaurant can make the most money.
These restaurants don’t care A THING about the nutritional values of food. So the burger on their menu is 2000 calories, the equivalent of an entire day’s worth of food? Oh well. Restaurants can make their food so pleasing that it doesn’t have to be nutritious. As Kessler writes, “The pleasure becomes a distraction, directing attention away from thoughts of a food’s fat or caloric content.” To make it more pleasing, hey simply add more fat. Fat makes food have better texture, makes the flavors work together, makes it easier to swallow… which in turn makes it less nutritious. It’s a vicious cycle.
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