On Sun, 5 Sep 2010 23:40:46 +0000 (UTC), Charlotte L. Blackmer wrote:

> In article >,
> Ranée at Arabian Knits > wrote:
>>In article >,
>> George > wrote:
>>
>>> It sure seems lots of folks no longer like or care about any
>>> flavors/tastes except sugar and salt.
>>
>> The conspiracy theorist in me thinks it is deliberate. If you add
>>enough sugar and salt to food, it is all that people will want. It
>>takes a slow acclimatizing to it, though, as the quantities added to
>>packaged foods now are jarring to people who aren't accustomed to it.
>
> You've got some highly respected scientific backup for that theory. Dr.
> David Kessler, a pediatrician and the former head of the FDA under Bush (41)
> and Clinton, researched the issue when he was wondering "why the obesity
> epidemic?". He adds "fat" to your "sugar and salt" and suggests that
> many restaurant/pre-prep foods are layered with sugar-and-fat/
> salt-and-fat to get and keep people hooked.
>
> He's definitely not a woo-woo and he's not trying to sell some magic
> bullet supplement or treatment. His book is "The End of Overeating".
>
> Charlotte

kessler might not be fully woo-woo, but he certainly is a fanatic. he also
thinks the tobacco industry manipulated nicotine levels to increase
addiction. why would they do that? nicotine is plenty addictive without
any manipulation.

he's also a former yo-yo dieter, which i think gives him some emotional,
rather than scientific, investment in the subject.

you can explain sugar, fat, and salt additions to food without delving into
sinister conspiracies. they are cheap ways to make food taste better
without using better (read: more costly) ingredients. it's economics, not
evil.

frankly, he sounds like a crusading nutter to me.

your pal,
blake