Authors: Michael Moss
21
Forget what we learned
Author interviews with scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, including David Margolskee, Gary Beauchamp, Danielle Reed, and Paul Breslin. Credit for this discovery goes to Virginia Collings, “Human Taste Response as a Function of Locus of Stimulation on the Tongue and Soft Palate,”
Perception and Psychophysics
16, no. 1 (1974): 169–174. For a discussion of the tongue map misinterpretation, see Linda Bartoshuk, “The Biological Basis of Food Perception and Acceptance,”
Food Quality and Preference
4 (1993): 21–32.
22
On average, we consume
The average sugar consumption of 22 teaspoons a day is based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, as reported by the American Heart Association in advocating a reduction of sugar consumption. Rachel Johnson et al., “Dietary Sugars Intake and Cardiovascular Health; a Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association,”
Circulation
, September 15, 2009. The figure is for sugar that is added to foods during processing or preparation. In reporting on food consumption, I have also relied on the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose data can be accessed through the agency’s website. However, the agency generally reports figures that are based on the amount of sugar or other commodities made “available” to consumers, also known as “disappearance data.” The agency has efforts under way to determine the extent to which this data overestimates the actual consumption by overlooking the food that is spoiled or thrown away.
23
The highlights start with
Sidney W. Mintz,
Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History
(New York: Penguin, 1986).
24
our consumption of sugar-sweetened soda
I’m indebted to John Sicher, the editor and publisher of
Beverage Digest
, for providing me with data that distinguishes between caloric and noncaloric soda consumption as well as data for other sugar-sweetened soft drinks.
25
That all changed in the late 1960s
Anthony Sclafani to author. Anthony Sclafani and Deleri Springer, “Dietary Obesity in Adult Rats: Similarities to Hypothalamic and Human Obesity Syndromes,”
Psychology and Behavior
17 (1976): 461–471; Anthony Sclafani et al., “Gut T1R3 Sweet Taste Receptors Do Not Mediate Sucrose-Conditioned Flavor Preferences in Mice,”
American Journal of Physiology—Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology
299 (2010).
26
except for “Eddy”
Arlene Love, the sculptor, to author.
27
Getting buzzed through
I made several visits to the Monell Center for interviews and research. I am grateful to the scientists and support staff for being generous with their time. The center has an extensive guide to its scientists and their work on its website.
28
they identified the actual protein
Several teams of researchers deserve credit for this discovery. Corie Lok, “Sweet Tooth Gene Found,”
Nature
, April 23, 2001; M. Max, “Tas1r3, Encoding a New Candidate Taste Receptor, Is Allelic to the Sweet Responsiveness Locus Sac.,”
Nature Genetics
28, no. 1 (2001): 58–63.
29
They have even solved
Ryuske Yoshida et al., “Endocannabinoids Selectively Enhance Sweet Taste,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
107, no. 2 (2010): 935–939.
30
This tension between
J. Desor and Lawrence Greene, “Preferences for Sweet and Salty in 9- to 15-Year-Old and Adult Humans,”
Science
1990 (1975): 686–687. For a more recent analysis of taste preferences by age and race, see Julie Mennella et al., “Evaluation of the Monell Forced-Choice, Paired-Comparison Tracking Procedure for Determining Sweet Taste Preferences Across the Lifespan,”
Chemical Senses
36 (2011): 345–355. This study, in addition to assessing the sweet preferences of 356 younger children, evaluated the same in 169 adolescents and 424 adults.
31
their “bliss point” for sugar
For more reporting on the genesis of the term
bliss point
, see
chapter 2
.
32
the group was called ARISE
Philip Morris records in LT.
33
an adorable six-year-old girl
Tatyana Gray’s mother was present for the experiment and Tatyana’s interviews with me, and I thank them both for letting me write about Tatyana’s experience. Thanks also to Susana Finkbeiner of Monell, who prepared the puddings for her tasting.
34
“I testified that”
In the early 1990s, Mark Hegsted provided an account of his involvement with the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, which I obtained from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health’s collection of historical documents.
35
On top of that
For more on Jacobson’s sugar petition, see
chapter 14
.
36
The headlines from these
Ellen Wartella, “Examination of Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols Phase 1 Report,”
Institute of Medicine
, 2010.
37
“It was coming from”
Al Clausi to author. I met with Clausi on several occasions to discuss his work on behalf of the food industry, and I am grateful to him for being generous with his time and sharing his records with me. I obtained other records on Monell’s interaction with the Flavor Benefits Committee from the LT.
38
Much of the work on soda
Michael Tordoff and Annette Alleva, “Effect of Drinking Soda Sweetened with Aspartame or High-Fructose Corn Syrup on Food Intake and Body Weight,”
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
51 (1990): 963–969.
39
“For three weeks we gave them”
Michael Tordoff to author.
40
Another of their colleagues
Karen Teff et al., “48-h Glucose Infusion in Humans: Effect on Hormonal Responses, Hunger, and Food Intake,”
Physiology and Behavior
5 (2007): 733–743; Karen Teff, “Dietary Fructose Reduces Circulating Insulin and Leptin, Attenuates Postprandial Suppression of Ghrelin, and Increases Triglycerides in Women,”
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
89, no. 6 (2004): 2963–2972;
Karen Teff, “Prolonged Mild Hyperglycemia Induces Vagally Mediated Compensatory Increase in C-Peptide Secretion in Humans,”
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
89, no. 11 (2004): 5606–5613.
41
“I’m still shocked”
Karen Teff to author.
42
This time, however, food companies
The American Heart Association’s statement on sugar and records of its “Added Sugars Conference” in May 2010 are available on the organization’s website. The records include presentations by the National Cancer Institute, Coca-Cola, the American Institute of Baking International, the National Confectioners Association, and General Mills.
43
“Let’s get practical”
Eyal Shimoni, associate professor, biotechnology and food engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, in his presentation to the conference and to author.
44
What they all wanted
John Lennon’s affection for Dr Pepper was recorded by his girlfriend, May Pang, in her biography,
Instamatic Karma
(New York: St. Martin’s, 2008); the preferences of the other pop stars were ferreted out by the
Smoking Gun
website. Hillary Clinton relates her experiences with Dr Pepper on the road in her autobiography,
Living History
(New York: Scribner’s, 2004). These and other Dr Pepper trivia have been compiled in an online digest run by Christopher Flaherty,
The Highly Unofficial Dr Pepper FAQ
.
45
Dr Pepper began to slip
“Top-10 Carbonated Soft Drink Companies and Brands for 2002,”
Beverage Digest
, February 24, 2003.
46
“If we are to re-establish”
“Dr Pepper President: Red Fusion Designed to Add ‘Excitement’ and Appeal to Non–Dr Pepper Users,”
Beverage Digest
, May 24, 2002.
47
He boosted sales
Howard R. Moskowitz and Alex Gofman,
Selling Blue Elephants
(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing, 2007).
48
as many as sixty thousand
The Food Marketing Institute, a grocers trade association, says the number of items in grocery stores ranges from 15,000 to 60,000 depending on the store’s size, with an average of 38,718.
49
Supermarket real estate
Herb Sorensen,
Inside the Mind of the Shopper
(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing, 2009).
50
“I’ve optimized soups”
Howard Moskowitz to author.
51
They devised sixty-one
Interviews with Moskowitz and Michele Reisner, along with Dr Pepper project records.
52
“If all of a sudden”
Howard Moskowitz to author. Michael Moss, “The Hard Sell On Salt,”
The New York Times
, May 30, 2010.
53
As he told a gathering
Howard Moskowitz, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) 2010 meeting, Chicago.
54
The military has long been
The reporting on Natick was greatly assisted by interviews with several Natick officials, including Jeannette Kennedy, project officer for research on MREs. The military’s field rations program is also detailed in the document, “Operational Rations of the Department of Defense,” Natick, May 2010.
55
“The problem in the military”
Herb Meiselman to author.
56
Sensory-specific satiety
Steven Witherly,
Why Humans Like Junk Food: The Inside Story on Why You Like Your Favorite Foods, the Cuisine Secrets of Top Chefs, and How to Improve Your Own Cooking Without a Recipe!
(Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2007); Barbara Rolls, “Sensory Specific Satiety in Man,”
Physiological Behavior
27 (1981): 137–142; Marjatta Salmenkallio-Marttila et al., “Satiety, Weight Management, and Foods: Literature Review,” VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, Esbo, Finland.
57
This colleague
Author correspondence with Balintfy’s son, Joseph, a spokesman for the National Institutes of Health. Among other instances, Balintfy cited the term
bliss point
in a 1979 presentation to the Society for the Advancement of Food Service Research.
58
The company, plagued by bureaucracy
See especially the Harvard Business School critique Toby E. Stuart,
Kraft General Foods: The Merger
.
59
“one of the great ho-hummers”
Ibid.
60
Maxwell House
This reporting benefited greatly from interviews with Howard Moskowitz and John Ruff, a General Foods research and development official in the coffee division. Moskowitz,
Selling Blue Elephants
.
61
The precise ingredients
Dr Pepper declined to discuss specific ingredients beyond those that are listed on the package, calling the formula proprietary.
62
By 2006, the company’s CEO
Transcript of the February 23, 2006, presentation by CEO Todd Stitzer to the Consumer Analyst Group of New York.
63
In the spring of 1946
Al Clausi to author.
64
coined the phrase
Al Clausi recalled hearing Mortimer use the expression “convenience foods” in a speech to employees in the early 1950s that Clausi believes may be the first time the phrase was used. “He said, ‘General Foods is not just a packaged food company, General Foods is the convenience foods company,’ ” Clausi told me. “And that signal went out to everybody, in marketing, in technical. That we now need to look at what we’re doing and ask, ‘How can we make it more convenient?’ That was the beginning of the era of instant this, instant that, powdered this, powdered that.”
65
This one took years
Clausi to author. His creation of instant Jell-O pudding is also memorialized in the beautifully illustrated large-format book published by Kraft Foods,
The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese
, which draws on company records and interviews to chronicle the role of food technicians and scientists in creating many of the company’s iconic products while steering clear of the more controversial aspects. The impetus for creating this book came from John Ruff, a former Kraft senior vice president, who wished to honor the oft-overlooked labors of food technicians, and I am grateful to him for providing me with a copy. Anne Bucher and Melanie Villines,
The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese: Stories of Kraft Food Inventors and their Inventions
(Kraft Food Holdings, Northfield, Il. 2005).
66
A competitor, National Brands
National Brands obtained two patents relevant to the production of instant pudding, the first in 1952, patent no. 2,607,692, and the second in 1958, patent no. 2,829,978. Clausi’s own patent was issued in 1957, patent no. 2,801,924. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has an online database where patents can be retrieved using various search criteria, including the patent number, the name of the inventor, and the company to whom the patent is assigned.
67
“Quick! Easy!”
Bucher and Villines,
Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese
.
68
When Mortimer emerged
Charles Mortimer to the dinner session of the Conference Board’s Third Annual Marketing Conference, New York City, September 22, 1955.
69
Post introduced a string
This reporting on the development of sugar-coated cereals benefited greatly from Scott Bruce,
Cerealizing America: The Unsweetened Story of American Breakfast Cereal
(Boston: Faber & Faber, 1995), a delightful and well-researched account of the cereal industry pioneers. See also Kenneth Corts, “The Ready-To-Eat Breakfast Cereal Industry in 1994” (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School, 1995); and Raymond Gilmartin,
General Mills
.
70
General Foods at the time
Stuart,
Kraft General Foods
; “Modern Living: Just Heat and Serve,”
Time Magazine
, December 7, 1959; Bucher and Villines,
Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese
; “A Chronological History of Kraft General Foods,” KGF Archives Department, Glenview, Illinois; “General Foods Plans to Buy Oscar Mayer,”
The New York Times
, February 5, 1981; “General Foods Corporation: List of Deals,” Lehman Brothers Collection, Harvard Business School; “At General Foods, Did Success Breed Failure?”
The New York Times
, June 11, 1972.
71
“We thought it would be attractive”
Al Clausi to author.
72
“They would drive”
Al Clausi to author.
73
As a child
“Modern Living,”
Time Magazine
, December 7, 1959. Charles Mortimer, “Purposeful Pursuit of Profits and Growth in Business,” McKinsey Foundation Lectures; “Expert Offers Marketing Tips,”
The New York Times
, May 14, 1959; “General Foods Chief Describes ‘Benign Revolution in Kitchen,’ ”
The New York Times
, September 12, 1962.
74
“Today, consumer expectations”
Charles Mortimer to the dinner session of the Conference Board’s Third Annual Marketing Conference, New York City, September 22, 1955.
75
“Who says the only food”
As recounted by Al Clausi to author.
76
“My daughter”
As recounted by Al Clausi to author.
77
“That was a mind spreader”
Al Clausi to author.
78
The Tang project had started
Al Clausi to author.
79
“Are you working on anything”
Bucher and Villines,
Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese
; Al Clausi and Domenic DeFelice to author.
80
Bloomquist said that people
Al Clausi to author.
81
“We started in Beijing”
Al Clausi to author.
82
“low-residue” food
Bucher and Villines,
Greatest Thing Since Sliced Cheese
.
83
“Tell NASA we’re honored”
Ibid.
84
as much as 19 grams
The amount of sugar in a teaspoon is most commonly estimated at 4.2 grams per teaspoon. Thus, 19 grams of sugar is 4.5 teaspoons.
85
When sales flattened out
Kellogg’s advertising unit and its agency provided a case study of the 2003 Pop-Tarts campaign to the Effie Awards, which bestowed the company with a gold award in 2004.
86
“The 30 million tweens”
Kellogg Effie Award case study.
87
“It was teaching the basics”
Betty Dickson to author.
88
Dickson belonged to
Digitized copies of the American Home Economics Association publication
Bulletin of American Home Economics Association
, later renamed
The Journal of Home Economics
, are available through the Mann Library at Cornell University. Starting in 1914, they provide insightful reading not only of the association’s endeavors but also the social history of meal preparation as it evolved.
89
the food industry undertook
The Journal of Home Economics
, volumes in 1956 and 1957. See for example, vol. 49, no. 3 (March 1957), which includes an announcement by General Foods that its Consumer Service Department was being renamed “General Foods Kitchens.” This growing division of the company had six test kitchens where it prepared newly developed products and created recipes for using them. The kitchens were backed by a small army of photographers, writers, and correspondents who answered the thousands of letters General Foods started getting from homemakers, as well as food publicists, who delivered products to newspaper food writers and editors.
90
“You will find that”
Susan Marks,
Finding Betty Crocker
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005).
91
In 1957 alone
Journal of Home Economics
49, no. 3 (March 1957): 246.
92
“When I joined General Mills”
Marcia Copeland to author.
93
she was praised
Journal of Home Economics
72, no. 4 (Winter 1980): 13. Her students included both boys and girls in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, with the foods curriculum described as “using small appliances for food preparation; developing shopping skills; and studying development of food habits.”
94
“Almost every bite”
“Modern Living: Just Heat and Serve,”
Time Magazine
, December 7, 1959.
95
“We taught skills”
Betty Dickson to author.
96
“Convenience is still”
Al Clausi to author.
97
Kellogg has gone so far down the road
In interviews and public statements, Kellogg staunchly defends the nutritional profile of its cereals. Acknowledging that some of its brands remain quite sweet, the company said it has numerous others with lesser amounts of sugar, and that an ongoing effort has succeeded in reducing the sugar in its cereals marketed to kids by 16%.