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Michael Moss: Uncovering the Secrets of the Trillion-Dollar Food "Cartel"
The Modern Health Nerd Podcast, Episode #44
How much control do we actually have over our food choices? According to Michael Moss, it's not nearly as much as we think.
Decades of research and reformulation have given the ultra-processed food industry ("Big Food") the upper hand, but we don't have to be victims of manipulation. We can regain control—and Michael Moss provides the ammunition we need in his detailed food system exposés.
In this episode, we explore:
- How the concept of the "bliss point" has caused sugar to invade nearly every type of product in the grocery store
- How the processed food industry's formulations and marketing tactics to hijack human biology and create addictive eating patterns
- Three main qualities that attract consumers to ultra-processed food
- How the processed food industry insinuated itself into the diet food industry
- How product reformulations can trick consumers into thinking ultra-processed foods are becoming healthier
- Using the processed food industry's own tactics to steer consumers toward healthier food choices
- How it's possible to shift our food preferences simply by building new habits
- Why changing the food system requires a multifaceted approach
- The power of changing the way people value food to consider factors beyond instant gratification
About Michael Moss
Michael Moss is the author of “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us,” an expose of processed food and #1 New York Times Bestseller published in 2013 by Random House, and “Hooked: Food, Free Will and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions,” a New York Times Bestseller published in 2021.
He is a former investigative reporter with The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 2010 for his work on contaminated meat. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two boys.
Connect with Michael & Read His Books
For further reading and listening
- Nikhil Arora, Back to the Roots, episode #25
- Hank Adams, Rise Gardens, episode #12
- Michael Moss on Chef AJ
