Then Moss explains how the raw material suppliers such as Cargill understand how to grind salt so fine that the brain and body can assimilate the salt we crave even quicker. For this, additives and food additives have to be added to prevent the salt crystals from caking.
Diphosphates: “Since phosphates are suspected of causing hyperactivity, allergic reactions, and osteoporosis, you should always make sure that you are getting the right amount of phosphates.
The acceptable daily intake for the total phosphoric acid and phosphates consumed has been determined to be 70 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.
In the Wikipedia entry (German) on phosphates, this is considered disproved. ... However, since milk contains high levels of phosphates and is also acid-forming in the body, milk pulls calcium out of the bones. This is why osteoporosis is much more widespread in countries that have a high milk consumption (incl. dairy products).
Some vegetables contain more calcium than milk. Kale contains twice as much—and has a higher density—and broccoli has about the same amount. An added benefit is that vegetables are alkaline-forming in the body, which is important for transporting calcium to the bones. With milk, the body must take calcium from the bones since milk is acidic and initially contains a lot of phosphorus and protein.
See this book review on MILK—The Deadly Poison to read more about the dangers of milk—or even better, also read the book review of "Milch besser nicht!" (Milk, better not!) by Maria Rollinger.
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See also information about smoothies and calcium bicarbonate, bicarbonate, standard bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, and harmful substances. And here is a very good entry on calcium!
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The dairy industry also has Wikipedia completely under control, even though doctors would have to understand this process. The blood has to maintain its pH and therefore turns to the calcium stores in the bones. Read also about blood puffer, acid–base homeostasis, and bicarbonate buffering system. We have a total of four systems to regulate this.
There is a very detailed explanation in the Taschenatlas der Ernährung (Pocket atlas of nutrition, German only), 5th edition, starting on page 206.
After this, we learn how the food industry reacted to the new guidelines in 2005 on reducing salt consumption. Most significantly, Cargill was able to achieve the same taste with 33 % less salt by replacing salt with potassium chloride (E508). On page 294, Moss describes how the British have tried to discourage manufacturers from doing this as many studies link large amounts of potassium to kidney problems.
2.13. The Same Great Salty Taste Your Customers Crave
Jody Mattsen, a technician at Cargill, gave Michael Moss a taste test so that he could experience the difference. While bread without added salt tasted like tin, the bread with the new combination was delicious. The new combination is much pricier than salt, but it is serving the food industry well. However, it does taste bitter in some products and some companies are now using even more additional additives in order to mask this bitter taste.
Moss describes how he tried a number of experimental products developed by the industry and was able to experience himself how the products without salt were almost inedible. He gives a wide variety of examples showing what the industry has developed in order to position itself as well as possible in the market.
The EU unfortunately does not distinguish between the three common phosphates that have different properties. All three are designated with the E number E339.
In 2010, Michael Bloomberg, as mayor of New York, set out to achieve at least the British limits. He asked that food manufacturers voluntarily reduce the salt in their products.
Bread should have 103 mg per ounce instead of the current 139, soups should be at 163 instead of 234 mg, processed cheeses at 297 instead of 398 mg, and potato chips at 123 instead of 203 mg.
The industry only voluntarily changed a few products that brought in the smallest revenue.
Moss explains the changes that some of the companies made. But Campbell didn't take part in the voluntary program, and instead, Denise Morrison, the new CEO of the company, increased the salt in some of its soups from 480 to 650 mg per serving in order to spur sales. Following this announcement, the stock prices went up. Analysts from Standard & Poor's gave a positive prognosis.
2.14. I Feel So Sorry for the Public (p. 302)
Starting on page 302, Moss writes about the efforts of the Finnish government to reduce the consumption of salt—they did this by putting strict regulations in place. They took action because of the large number of people with high blood pressure and/or heart attacks. In the eastern part of Finland, in particular, the Finns had very high levels of salt consumption.
Finland had the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in the world. Officials had long claimed that this was caused by genetic disposition.
By 2007, the salt consumption in Finland had dropped by a third, and the number of deaths from strokes and heart disease had declined by 80 percent!
Insider knowledge
Moss then describes an encounter that occurred at the symposium where Heikki Karppanen shared these results. Robert I-San Lin, the only attendee in professional attire, invited Heikki Karppanen to join him for dinner.
Robert I-San Lin worked as the chief scientist for food research at Frito-Lay from 1974 to 1982. Frito-Lay has been a subsidiary of PepsiCo since 1965.
Robert I-San Lin tells about the company culture. His department was made up of 150 researchers. He soon worked on developing healthier products, but as a result of exasperation, ended up giving up his attempts. Moss takes the next several pages to share a lot of valuable insider knowledge—and includes an interesting formula on page 308.
Frito-Lay writing about itself (September 2013): “Frito-Lay North America is the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo.”
The company shares numerous recipes online and presents various ingredients in the best light possible. A company's website, which is usually of superior quality, shows how successful they are at keeping everything under control.
PepsiCo's total annual sales in 2012 were $65 billion. You can see numbers and read additional information by clicking on the tabs on the above link for PepsiCo.
The experiment that Robert I-San Lin's team conducted with monkeys and chips on saturated fats is quite interesting (page 309). It lasted for five years and over two generations. The monkeys who consumed more saturated fats had higher cholesterol levels in their blood, but this apparently didn't make much of a difference over the years.
Researchers assume that in cases like these, it makes a big difference whether or not the person in question enjoys exercise.
A group of activists that was founded in 1971 and has 900 thousand members was at least able to force PepsiCo to change the name of its Tropicana Peach Papaya Juice. The product doesn't contain any peaches, papayas, or juice, and it in no way contains fruit juice. And it also made Sara Lee change the name of its “whole grain bread” since it only contains 30% whole grains.
How the industry refused to reduce the salt content and why humans like junk food
We learn how the industry refused to reduce the salt content in spite of the evidence showing the problems connected to high salt consumption.
Alan Wohlmann, Frito-Lay's research director, invited a physician to an FDA panel to warn against reducing the salt content.
The physician claimed that “should the proposed regulations succeed in lowering the consumption of salt, Americans would face grave danger: People could die” (p. 312)!
Note: Wohlman developed patents for the industrial production of foods at Frito Lay.
Moss shows just how weak health organizations are as compared to the food industry with its almost unlimited financial and political opportunities.
On page 320, he mentions the book "Why Humans Like Junk Food", which was written by Steven Witherly, a former food scientist at Nestlé.
Together with him, Moss tested several products including Cheetos made by Frito-Lay, which Witherly describes as one of the best products when it comes to tricking the brain. But Witherly also includes Doritos 3D in this list.
Moss describes various products and some of their ingredients and history. In doing so, he also quotes professors who would like to fight against the increasing obesity and related diseases.
2.15. We're Hooked on Inexpensive Food (p. 331)
The last section (pp. 331–347) deals with the fact that people are often not able to afford better quality food. Fast food and junk food are by far the cheapest types of food.
Activist lawyers took the companies to court
At the same time, Moss also tells about his visit to Nestlé, which in recent years has passed up Kraft to become the largest food manufacturer in the world. He provides information about the history of Nestlé and also writes about studies using electroencephalography (EEG) and chewing simulators.
Alfrun Erkner walked him through the laboratories at Nestlé. In this context, Moss also discusses numerous studies that have had the goal of reducing the three ingredients sugar, salt, and fat and developing health products.
Nestlé introduced the drinks Nestea and Enviga in an attempt to bring drinks onto the market that were intended to help people lose weight. Both of these were produced together with Coca-Cola.
In 2007, activist lawyers at the Center for Science took the companies to court for the claim that drinking Enviga would help you to lose weight. Enviga contained green tea, caffeine, and two artificial sweeteners. Given the high percentage of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and caffeine, the drink was labeled a “calorie burner.” However, in order to lose a pound, a person would have to drink 180 cans. In 2012, the Nestea project that Nestlé and Coca-Cola had worked on together was phased out (p. 334).
In 2002, Nestlé acquired the company Hot Pockets for $2.6 billion. The sandwich makes it possible for people to eat on the go without getting greasy fingers.
The Pepperoni & Three Cheese Calzone version of the Hot Pocket contains more than 100 ingredients. This includes six variations of cheese, from imitation mozzarella to imitation cheddar.
A single calzone has 10 g of saturated fat, 1.5 g of salt, 6 teaspoons of sugar, and about 600 calories. The preservatives guarantee a shelf life of 420 days, but in all practicality, they probably last much longer.
Now, Nestlé is trying to reach those who are obese with products such as Peptamen and Optifast.
At the end of the section, Moss explains that Nestlé has really taken steps in the right direction. But he warns of drug-like foods and food-like drugs that may soon be on the market. A combined effort made by the pharmaceutical industry and the food manufacturers would make this possible.
In 1960, overeaters founded Overeaters Anonymous (OA) in Los Angeles. It is a twelve-step program that is similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. Moss describes the efforts of a group of parents who wanted to keep the school children from buying junk food. They took turns standing in front of stores during school breaks and after school. This is reminiscent of how some parents try to prevent their children from doing drugs.
Aristotle (384–322 BC) not only aptly defined the sense of taste (On the Soul, soul, sense-perception—see also C.G. Jung), but also the five senses. He wrote about many vital issues and developed important concepts and distinctions. It is definitely worth it to read the Wikipedia entry on Aristotle.
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Moral character, happiness, and virtue were important topics for him. He differentiated between a life of pleasure, political life, and theoretical life in terms of the goal of discernment.
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He discussed the concept of pleasure, which is so much in the forefront today—and shows where we are in our development.
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A mother's diet influences the child's taste preference even before the child is born
Wikipedia: “Given its high protein content, colostrum is somewhat slimy and thick and has a yellowish color; it also sometimes contains blood. Infants receive colostrum right after they are born and in the case of humans, its composition changes within the next 18 to 36 hours. After about five days, “normal” milk is produced.
Colostrum is very rich in antibodies, which makes it very important for newborns who are still relatively vulnerable to sicknesses, and it should therefore be given to them as quickly as possible.
The German Wikipedia entry on sense of taste (Geschmackssinn) includes important findings such as the following: Starting in the third month, a fetus discovers the amniotic fluid and drinks between 200 and 760 mL of this per day. It has been shown that a fetus will react positively to sweet tastes and negatively to bitter ones even before the 28th week.
Reactions to smells have been observed starting in the 28th week.
Many studies have shown that a mother's diet influences the child's taste preference even before the child is born. This is possible via the amniotic fluid. Children whose mothers had anise during their pregnancy showed a significantly higher acceptance of the smell of anise than did other children.
Note: The taste buds begin to form at 18 weeks after fertilization (image). The cerebral cortex begins to form starting between week 20 and week 24. One study showed a connection between the birth weight of children and their preference for the salty taste.
Low birth weight infants preferred salty solutions at two months, whereas all of the other infants preferred pure water. This preference was still present in children who were three to four years old. It is likely that this is linked to the taste of the amniotic fluid in the final phase of pregnancy.
Since breast milk contains lactose and protein, it has both a sweet and an umami taste, which corresponds to an infant's natural taste preferences.
It has been shown that a child's taste preferences are influenced by their mother's diet during the breastfeeding period. This is because the flavors of the foods she eats are in the breast milk.
After they have been weaned, a child will more readily accept foods with tastes that they recognize.
Baby formula can cause children to develop certain taste preferences
In contrast to breast milk, taste preferences don't change as a result of baby formula, but it can cause children to develop certain taste preferences. Vanillin, which tastes sweet, used to be added to infant formula in Germany.
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In one study, 30- to 40-year-old test subjects were asked to rate two different types of ketchup. One was flavored with vanillin in the same concentration as it used to be in baby formula. Two-thirds of the test subjects who had had baby formula with vanillin preferred the ketchup with the added vanillin, but only 30 percent of those who had been breastfed preferred this ketchup.”
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3. Food industry and consumers (my own thoughts on the subject)
You might ask why I have included a text here in addition to the book review. The journalist Michael Moss explains in his bestselling book "Salt Sugar Fat" how most people in the West are at the mercy of the large food companies, if not being force-fed by them. I wanted to share a few of my own thoughts on the subject.
What is the fundamental problem?
We are! We are living in the dark side of free capitalism, which actually exists. Even free capitalism demonstrates the face of humanity as it is to a certain extent, in a way similar to what real existing communism already demonstrated. This face shows our basic nature, like any species that already has a basic tendency in its behavior. We are a product of nature. Most people forget that over and over again—or choose not to accept it.
Society is always in a certain phase. We can best recognize the state of our mental development in northern Europe before and after the Second World War. Above all, this is clear in the use of the word mediation instead of war. As I wrote in my book Radios von gestern (Radios from yesterday) in 1989: The avoidance of war means recognizing one's own weaknesses and the strengths of the other.
As much as we continue to evolve in our understanding, there is a lack of a far-reaching look into the future
History should have taught us by now that such mental development is unfortunately only temporary. It reflects a highly civilized society, the flowering of a culture. This means that a peak has been reached, and then the signs of wilting begin to appear. The actual fruits are harvested by those who come afterwards. We took over from the Romans, as they took over from the Greeks, and the cycle continues.
Very few people would classify the section above as realistic. Many would feel it to be at most totally pessimistic. Or: Who can understand my comparison between absolute communism to absolute capitalism? This has nothing to do with a political opinion.
With withering, I think of the “bread and circuses” of the Romans and to a certain extent the writings of ancient Greek times that had already been described by the youth as bad.
As a culture is ascending, the society is proud of its youth and looks up to the “old.”
Even so, this looking up and respect is not always completely right; it can also be overdone.
In emerging cultures—as China is currently—the elderly population is still highly regarded and often taken care of by the younger generation.
When a culture reaches its peak, then almost everything begins to revolve around consumption and so many kinds of debauchery.
The mottos become “Enjoy!” and “Have fun!.” First, people are focused on building up and then on consumption. Now, the pendulum is swinging back.
We could believe that the achievement of democracy prevents large pendulum swings. But these are part of the mental attitude and zeitgeist, which are different in each country.
If we compare the behavior of different peoples in the present, we find ourselves on a journey through time. The behaviors are not similar to how we experience them here.
We should not expect, for example, a democracy in our sense of the word in a country that is mentally in a very different place. Under certain circumstances, the Law of the Strongest applies and not the superstructure of our culture based on our basic behaviors.
Terms of ethics would have to first be adopted by a large majority of the population of a country. This is possible through self-knowledge, the spirit of family, religion, or other institutions.
Individuals may also differ significantly from society in a positive or negative way. But according to statistics, a government usually more or less embodies the national character.
The Selfish Brain theory
Interested readers will find it worthwhile to read about the Selfish Brain theory. The Selfish Brain theory provides, for example, a novel explanation for the development of obesity, or being grossly overweight.
On Wikipedia, the Topic Selfish Brain theory is described well in both the German and English entries. It's actually clear to us that the brain must behave selfishly with respect to taking care of itself.
Without a functioning brain, the body dies. The brain can store only a very limited amount of glucose. For that reason, “energy on demand” is necessary. In an emergency, that is, in the absence of glucose, the brain can obtain energy from lactate or ketones.
The actors
If we want to understand the book Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss,we have to identify the actors: the individual (consumer), the economy, the health system, the media, and the government. The latter includes courts and ultimately NGOs should help to create an appropriate balance.
As we know, each individual is “knitted” together in a very different way. As with the old ABC analysis, a differentiation is possible between a large majority that follows the current, a medium-sized group, for example, a neighborhood that lives in a healthy manner, and a small minority who wants to or has to live in as healthy a manner as possible. The great majority behave like lemmings in a Walt Disney film. They are the plaything of fashion and the flow of time, as set forward by the media. They are controlled by the forces of marketing.
Personal responsibility, “freedom without borders” and harming the majority
Liberal circles and well-meaning people (including politicians) are often of the opinion that you should not interfere with people's autonomy.
They probably just listen closely to others, rather than seeing the reality themselves. Yes, we should try to see personal responsibility and “freedom without borders” as ideals, but in reality then steer these so that they don't end up harming the majority.
The book discussed here shows us very clearly how reality ticks. We can see this not only in the food industry, but also in another very important factor: big banks with their many highly speculative possibilities. The widespread speculation, gambling, and the like are also signs of the times. The losers are the masses. A step forward for me would be if, for example, you would have to keep a share of a company for at least six months. The same applies to options that are in principle necessary, but are not deregulated for speculation.
In practice, we know that there are two very unequal actors. We have the economy, which powerfully influences politics through the practice of lobbying. They can also exert control by sponsoring research and technology and can in this way influence the health care system. The same thing happens with our media, which cannot help but participate.
And on the other side, we have the broad masses of noncritical, impressionable consumers. For them, the courts aren't a sufficient regulator.
A large company can only operate in accordance with ONE law
In a free economy, every company operates as much as possible according to its own policies, in most cases within official legislation. If a person, working in a successfully operating company with annual sales of, say $10 billion or €10 billion, would come out on top, we would not say that it was because of their special connections or intelligence.
Marketing, innovation, production costs, working environment, and political work
No, at least in a highly competitive industry, a committed focus, along with all of a person's other characteristics, such as assertiveness, knowing what is important, and “Marketing, marketing, marketing” plays a very important role.
In addition, innovation, good product development, market research, and product research are essential.
And production costs, storage, and distribution have to also be just right.
There are therefore a lot of factors that come into play. All of these things revolve around consumerism.
But the working environment, internal training, education, and several other factors are also very important for any company.
In such large companies, “political work” plays a central role. For this purpose, they form alliances. And this way, rival forces come together and achieve a lot with their large amount of power. Working together, companies don't expose themselves to danger in the same way.
The whole range of activities belongs together and is concentrated. The actual product costs are a fraction of the retail price. They are sometimes lower than the net profit after tax. Nevertheless, companies always have to minimize costs in order to withstand ever-increasing competition.
The law of a successful manager
The law of a successful manager or entrepreneur is simply: I want to be the best, the most successful.
On page XV of the prologue, Michael Moss quotes Bob Eckert, the CEO of Kraft, as he made a statement to journalists: If I ask who's the undisputed leader of the food industry, you might say Kraft. Then again, you might say Nestlé, Kellogg, General Mills, Nabisco. There is a whole cadre of companies performing well, but nobody's really broken away from the pack. And that's what I'd like to see Kraft do.
Robert (Bob) A. Eckert has led Kraft as president and CEO but moved to the toy company Mattel (incl. Barbie doll) in 2011. The group employs 26 thousand people and generates $6.26 billion in sales annually. Eckert earned a good $17 million in 2011, including $5 million in shares allocations, $2 million in options, and $7 million in special compensations. That does come to about $650 per employee.
A comparison here is interesting. If you were the chief executive officer of a company with fewer than 100 employees, and if you collected the same compensation as Eckert does per employee, you would have a big financial problem.
Bob Eckert is also still receiving compensation from McDonald's. He studied at the Eller College of Management, which still has the motto “Bear down” on the flag, which can also be described as “press down, crush”—or also “draw closer.”
We can certainly see this in different ways, but without a certain “neutral control,” for example, from a truly independent government, then the first two meanings of “Bear down” are the ones that certainly apply in this competitive industry.
This manifested itself clearly at the memorable “secret meeting” of the major players of the food industry in 1999.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2010, cat. Explanatory Reporting.
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Summary of the short description on Amazon
In this book Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, Michael Moss shows us how the giants of the food industry work. They control the shelves in our grocery stores. The Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter describes how the processed food industry investigates systematically and successfully to determine how they can sell us particularly unhealthy products.
Note: Unhealthy foods are not produced intentionally. But people who know and understand human behavior and the market laws today recognize that they are an inevitable result of the system.
Thanks to the numerous interviews with leading players in the food industry, Moss is able to reveal a lot of insider knowledge. Their investigations showed that our brain reacts to sugar in practically the same way as to cocaine. Sugary drinks (like Coca-Cola) also known as soda or pop are the primary problem.
Moss also points out that various convenience foods without extra salt taste bland or even metallic (cornflakes) or bitter (crackers) or soggy and gooey, sticking to the roof of our mouth.
The largest food scandal in India in almost a decade may result in damage to Nestlé's image
Top story on Swissquote.ch (PDF download) Monday, June 8, 2015:
The largest food scandal in India in almost a decade may result in damage to Nestlé's image. In the second-largest country in the world, the global market leader is withdrawing popular Maggi noodles from the market because they allegedly contain a high concentration of lead. Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke spoke with the media in New Delhi on Friday in an attempt to smooth the waters. He assured the public that the noodles were safe for consumption and that the recall was only a precautionary measure.
Official authorities have a different assessment of the situation. After the press conference, national food regulators announced that the laboratory had overwhelming evidence that the instant noodles are dangerous for human consumption and ordered a recall. Laboratory tests conducted by individual states showed lead values that were up to seven times above the permissible upper limit.
In addition, the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) was detected. The noodles account for 15 to 20 % of Nestlé's sales in India, but only make up a very small percentage of the company's total sales of 87 billion euros. Analysts and market experts questioned Nestlé's strategy of confronting regulatory authorities and denying the problem for weeks.
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Diphosphates: “Since phosphates are suspected of causing hyperactivity, allergic reactions, and osteoporosis, you should always make sure that you are getting the right amount of phosphates.
The acceptable daily intake for the total phosphoric acid and phosphates consumed has been determined to be 70 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.
In the Wikipedia entry (German) on phosphates, this is considered disproved. ... However, since milk contains high levels of phosphates and is also acid-forming in the body, milk pulls calcium out of the bones. This is why osteoporosis is much more widespread in countries that have a high milk consumption (incl. dairy products).
Some vegetables contain more calcium than milk. Kale contains twice as much—and has a higher density—and broccoli has about the same amount. An added benefit is that vegetables are alkaline-forming in the body, which is important for transporting calcium to the bones. With milk, the body must take calcium from the bones since milk is acidic and initially contains a lot of phosphorus and protein.