Investigative journalist shares exposé on processed food industry

Journalist Michael Moss spoke to students and faculty about the dangers of the food industry. // Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Michael Moss visited Hofstra on Wednesday, Nov. 10, to deliver a lecture on his investigations into the food industry. Moss, who recently authored “Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions,” shared some of his findings, explaining that food companies use optimized ratios of salt, sugar and fat to create products that customers will become hooked on. 

“They had us convinced that everything we eat should be sweet,” Moss said, explaining how sugary processed foods have changed American eating habits. “Yogurts came to have as much sugar per serving as ice cream. Spaghetti sauce ended up having the equivalent of [an] Oreo cookie’s sweetness.” 

According to Moss, Americans have grown accustomed to consuming high amounts of sugary foods, which decreases a person’s sensitivity to other tastes, such as bitterness and sourness. He explained what happens when somebody eats a vegetable after a high dosage of sugar. “Your brain goes into rebellion mode and asks you ‘God, where is that sweet stuff?’” Moss said. 

Moss then shared his findings on how processed foods optimize fat content to hook consumers. He spoke about how the feeling of fatty foods in the mouth can be satisfying. “It’s that luscious feeling you get when you bite into a cheese sandwich,” Moss said, as he explained the optimal ratio of fat in most processed foods. “[Food companies] are hitting fifty percent of the calories with fat.” 

In addition to sugar and fat, Moss reported that salt content plays a major role in engineering processed food products. He said investigating salt content in processed foods was a pivotal moment in his reporting. 

“Salt adds texture and solubility to their products,” Moss said. He shared that during his investigations, he had the opportunity to test many salt-free versions of popular processed food products. He discovered that adding salt to food compensates for blandness, and can even mask a product’s underlying, off-putting flavor. “Salt adds color and taste to their otherwise tasteless products,” Moss said. 

Several students attended the lecture as part of their food studies class to further their understanding of the curriculum. Isabel Dazza, a sophomore TV production major, stated, “We’re learning about the political [elements] behind [food]. For example ... sushi. The white [and] the red symbolize the Japanese flag,” she said. 

For some students, Moss’s findings on the food industry confirmed many of the concepts explored in their food studies class. 

Hannah Buckley, a senior criminology major, said, “There’s inside and outside power related to food. The choices that we make are individual in the sense that our culture dictates it, so we feel drawn to do certain things. Outside [power] would be institutional.”