Dr. Brian Smith, a philosopher who works on food flavor, urges people to think twice before consuming ultra-processed foods.
Dr. Barry Smith has spent nearly a decade working with the world’s biggest junk food brands, helping them make their products irresistibly tasty and craveable.
The food scientist was part of a team of experts who manipulated every aspect of our favorite products, from packaging to texture, smell and taste, to make us want more.
But that is no longer the case. Now, the expert has completely stopped eating junk food due to its harmful effects on health.
And he is revealing the secrets of the trade to warn us about this as well.
This includes adding the signature “bubble and tear” sound when you open a can of soda to make it seem refreshing, or the popping sound of a bottle of Snapple juice, which the brain has learned to associate with a sweet treat.
Dr Barry began helping to improve flavours in 2010, when he set up a “wet” lab in London, the aim of which was to study how different ways of presenting a product could alter the taste.
He says some of the tests were used to help brands such as Coca-Cola, Kellog’s and Ferrero make their products more appealing.
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Dr. Smith said that just before ingesting a high-sugar snack, the brain releases dopamine (the feel-good hormone) in anticipation of receiving something good.
This is what food companies have tried to take advantage of: through the smooth, velvety appearance of chocolate, the explosion of smells in a packet of crisps or the brightly coloured packaging of sweets.
Dr. Smith used to be a big fan of junk food: 30 to 40 percent of his diet came from ultra-processed foods.
But after learning about the dangers of eating so much sugar, she decided to give it up altogether.
The result? He now feels much healthier, more energetic and happier than before, and has even lost weight without wanting to.
It also revealed how foods have been altered to make them more palatable even when, normally, most people would find them too sweet.
He gave the example of soft drinks, saying that both their effervescence and cold temperature help to reduce their sweet tastes. The bubbles alter the perception of taste on the tongue, while the cold temperature makes the taste buds less sensitive to sweetness.
Studies show that diets high in ultra-processed foods are linked to a host of health risks, including obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Smith recommends taking a break from ultra-processed foods to help your taste buds become more accustomed to a diet without high sugar content.
In an interview with Business Insiderthe suggested Invest in ways to make non-junk foods taste better.
Vegetables, he said, may seem bland but they can be made more flavorful by roasting, frying or fermenting them.
“You can’t convince people to stop eating ultra-processed foods by telling them they’re bad for their health. The first thing is the taste,” he said.
“You have to make them really tasty so that people realize that they can make something reasonably cheap and reasonably good, and that I’m actually going to enjoy eating them.”
