The Dorito effect
by Mark Schatzker · first published 2015
80% recommend20% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains how processed food is engineered to taste appealing, covering the history of flavor design and possible future fixes. Useful for anyone curious about artificial and natural flavors.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"In The Dorito Effect, Mark Schatzker shows us how our approach to the nation's number one public health crisis has gotten it wrong. The epidemics of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are not tied to the overabundance of fat or carbs or any other specific nutrient. Instead, we have been led astray by the growing divide between flavor--the tastes we crave--and the underlying nutrition" -- provided by publisher.
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…to us do so because they're healthy and contain the correct nutrients for us, and our bodies even can know about when we've consumed enough of them. This book outlines all of that http://www.amazon.ca/Dorito-Effect-Surprising-Truth-Flavor/d... If you don't want to read the whole book, here's the audio from a program called The Agenda with Steve Paikin with the author of The Dorito Effect. http://podcasts.tvo.org/theagenda/audio/2301343_48k.mp3
on “The Secret Ingredient in Orange Juice” ↗the Dorito effect (https://www.amazon.com/Dorito-Effect-Surprising-Truth-Flavor...) explains it really well if you want to understand the fine details. It was an eye opening read.
on “Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious? (2011)” ↗If you are interested in this topic and want to know more, I highly recommend the book The Dorito Effect - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1476724237/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm...
on “Challenges in the diagnosis of magnesium status” ↗If you're curious about artificial and natural flavors, "The Dorito Effect" is a great read on the topic. What blew me away: "Naturally flavored" is marketed as "healthy" when it is anything but. Natural flavors are just as bad as artificial flavors. You are adding chemicals…
on “Scents in brands of body wash, chicken stock and canned drink come from Givaudan” ↗you would probably love the dorito effect https://www.amazon.com/Dorito-Effect-Surprising-Truth-Flavor... Its a book about the incentives and technologies that came together to result in the deflavorization of food and the rise of the "flavoring"…
on “Red delicious apples weren’t always horrible” ↗The must-read book The Dorito Effect covered this years ago. De-nutrification of food has been decades in the making.
on “Challenges in the diagnosis of magnesium status” ↗…long experience of a food, and much harder when a food has been designed expressly to deceive its senses — with artificial flavors, say, or synthetic sweeteners. In fact, I recently read a book, The Dorito Effect which goes into this in much, much more detail, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. I bought it thinking it would be a light read, based on the title and cover, but it was more…
on “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. (2007)” ↗…bred to maximize profit at every step. This means eschewing things like healthfulness and tastiness in favor of volume of product, heartiness, and low production cost. I highly recommend the book The Dorito Effect to anyone more interested in how the flavors of food have changed over time. Despite the fluffy name, it's a very well-researched and well-written book.
on “A Genetic Fix to Put the Taste Back in Tomatoes” ↗I recently read a great book that dug into this issue, explaining a lot of the history behind it and exploring potential future solutions. The Dorito Effect. Would recommend.
on “Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be” ↗Why do corporations always throw tantrums when called out for bad business practices that hurt their customers? I highly recommend folks read The Dorito Effect, a book about processed food manufacturing. It changed my perspective and habits on junk food.
on “Kellogg’s is going to war over Mexico’s nutrition label rules” ↗100% this. There is a wonderful book called The Dorito Effect that goes into this in more detail.
on “Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad” ↗Just read The Dorito Effect.
on “Ultra-processed foods and the corporate capture of nutrition” ↗…meat, spices, and tea in their carts. Beer drinkers, on the other hand, were more likely to reach for the chips, ketchup, margarine, sugar, ready-cooked meals, and soft drinks." Schatzker, Mark. The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor (p. 155). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition. EDIT: What I am saying is - yes, television shuts off the thinking part of your brain, but then you also don't…
on “Television viewing and cognitive decline in older age” ↗…saw a fascinating pre-print paper here a while ago: A Contamination Theory of the Obesity Epidemic. via: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27936016 I also read an interesting book lately called "The Dorito Effect" in which the author makes the case that we have a finely developed ability to associate the flavour of food with the nutrients we get from it (and, when we need nutrients, we'll crave the foods that…
on “Adult Obesity Facts” ↗The book "The Dorito Effect" goes into this a lot. Basically, the sugar substitutes are often discovered in food labs by accident (someone didn't wash their hands and licked their fingers, ew). These substances are tens of thousands…
on “Cocaine Paraphernalia Ads in the 70s” ↗