For Professor María Fernanda Lara, from the Center for Human Communication of the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Colombia (Unal), an explanation for this question can be found in neurogastronomy, a science that studies how the brain creates the perception of taste and how it is used for the food industry.
“There are various strategies used from neurogastronomy to sell ultra-processed foods or foods with a high content of calories, trans fats, and sugars, given that many of the pleasures we feel with food lie more in the mind than in the mouth,” he said. .
Experts explain that the crunch of French fries in the mouth has been enhanced with the aim of making them perceived as fresh, crunchy and rich. Colors also play a fundamental role, blue or green foods, for example, give the feeling of freshness.
“It also happens that when we are very thirsty, we think about having a cold soda or with ice, instead of a glass of water, because we like the sensation that our taste buds perceive when they come into contact with the gas”, added Lara.
These products are added to daily consumption because, according to Lara, “the flavors that handle certain types of addictive substances, the advertising and marketing of these products -which is quite aggressive- and the strengthening of the brand by influencers such as actors and famous athletes”.
This was verified by nutritionist Olga Lucía Mora, an expert in scientific communication, “social networks allow anyone to talk about various topics, and in the case of nutrition and food there are thousands who share tips, recipes, strategies and food supplements, among others”.
Mercedes Mora, a nutritionist from Unal, clarified that “a food is produced by nature and at the time of consumption it preserves its food matrix, it does not contain additional ingredients; On the contrary, ultra-processed edible products contain between three and five ingredients, among the most frequent are added sugar, sodium or industrialized saturated fat, and preservative substances are also added.
