Why Are Chips So Addicting?
Humans are programmed to associate a loud, crunchy sound with a food's freshness. It comes as no surprise that potato chips are known for their crispy, crunch textures, which are meant to replicate the sensation of biting into, say a crisp apple or a particularly fresh stalk of celery. Since the dawn of humankind, we've associated fresh food with healthier and happier lifestyles. Many chip companies are trying to tap into that natural gravitation towards fresh food by taking the sensation of a crunchy bite and placing it into their products.
A study, called the “sonic chip" study, discovered a fascinating association between a food's desirability factor and the crunch sound that occurs when your teeth crush something crispy. There's a positive association between the loudness of a crunch and a person's perceived freshness level of the food. They asked participants to sample 180 Pringles chips while wearing noise cancelling headphones, with the noise level being adjusted to allow for a louder or softer crunch noise. On average, the louder the participants heard the crunch, the fresher they perceived the chip to be. And the vast majority of participants stated that they preferred the "fresh" chip over the "stale" chips.
Additionally, studies have shown that eating salt (specifically sodium) releases dopamine in our brains. Dopamine is a chemical messenger that controls our brain’s pleasure center, and once our brains receive that first reward hit, it starts craving more and more. That's why salty foods taste so good, and why we keep wanting more. Chips are created to intentionally be salty, which both overpowers our taste buds and leaves our brain wanting more.
The chip companies are constantly producing better and more addictive chip recipes to urge consumers to consume more. However, this practice of making addictive chips has large health implications. One study found that the oversalting of foods makes it more difficult for our bodies to gage the overall fat content of a food, which prevents us from feeling satisfaction after eating a certain amount. The high levels of sodium and fat in chips combined with the addicting crunch may lead to severe health problems in the future, which is especially detrimental given our country's growing obesity epidemic. Nevertheless, it's difficult to argue against the fact that chips are a satisfying, tasty, once-in-a-while snack that has billions of consumers around the world.
Sources: https://www.eatthis.com/this-why-its-so-hard-stop-eating-chips/
https://www.rd.com/food/fun/why-are-potato-chips-addictive/
A study, called the “sonic chip" study, discovered a fascinating association between a food's desirability factor and the crunch sound that occurs when your teeth crush something crispy. There's a positive association between the loudness of a crunch and a person's perceived freshness level of the food. They asked participants to sample 180 Pringles chips while wearing noise cancelling headphones, with the noise level being adjusted to allow for a louder or softer crunch noise. On average, the louder the participants heard the crunch, the fresher they perceived the chip to be. And the vast majority of participants stated that they preferred the "fresh" chip over the "stale" chips.
Additionally, studies have shown that eating salt (specifically sodium) releases dopamine in our brains. Dopamine is a chemical messenger that controls our brain’s pleasure center, and once our brains receive that first reward hit, it starts craving more and more. That's why salty foods taste so good, and why we keep wanting more. Chips are created to intentionally be salty, which both overpowers our taste buds and leaves our brain wanting more.
The chip companies are constantly producing better and more addictive chip recipes to urge consumers to consume more. However, this practice of making addictive chips has large health implications. One study found that the oversalting of foods makes it more difficult for our bodies to gage the overall fat content of a food, which prevents us from feeling satisfaction after eating a certain amount. The high levels of sodium and fat in chips combined with the addicting crunch may lead to severe health problems in the future, which is especially detrimental given our country's growing obesity epidemic. Nevertheless, it's difficult to argue against the fact that chips are a satisfying, tasty, once-in-a-while snack that has billions of consumers around the world.
Sources: https://www.eatthis.com/this-why-its-so-hard-stop-eating-chips/
https://www.rd.com/food/fun/why-are-potato-chips-addictive/
This was a really interesting question to explore. I have always wondered why everyone was addicted to chips. I wouldve assumed due to it's saltiness, but I would never thought of it's "crunchiness". The irony is that the crunchiness makes us think of fresh foods that are good for you, but instead you're eating a joke of a vegetable that is incredibly processed. I think that it's important that we are aware of what we put inside of our bodies. Learning about what makes food addictive will help us to think with our brain instead of our stomach.
ReplyDeleteNice post Julia! I find it interesting how food companies are able to take advantage of our biological functions in order to make their products more appealing. They sacrifice their foods' health for tastiness, as unfortunately, tasty, unhealthy food sells better than bland, healthy food. Because the sole purpose of a corporation is to make profit, the ethics behind the food they produce isn't taken into consideration.
ReplyDeleteSuper interesting post! It's super fascinating to learn that a chip's "freshness" is associated with how crispy or crunchy it is. You mentioned that salt releases dopamine in our brain, and because of this, companies take advantage and put large amounts of salt in the chips to make them more addicting to people. I wanted to find out more about this and one source described a really interesting study about rats. In this study, researchers let rats choose from three different foods: standard chow, a mix of fat and carbohydrates, or potato chips. The rodents by far preferred potato chips over the other two options. So, it isn't just us humans who prefer the salty taste, it's in rodents, too.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.rd.com/food/fun/why-are-potato-chips-addictive/
I wonder if based on the results of the sonic chip study, food companies could artificially increase cravings for their food, beyond just chip producers. I would be interested to see a company try to make more people want their food by simply making it crunchy, regardless of the type of food. Foods like the Magnum ice cream bar had similar results, with the crunchy chocolate shell increasing customer satisfaction in the product, even though many customers said they didn't like its actual consistency. Is it better for companies to artificially make their product more addictive by external factors like its crunch, or by actually making the food more addicting by altering the taste or the ingredients? To me, it seems more beneficial for companies to go with crunch as this could be done without the addition of addictive ingredients.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://mentalfloss.com/article/531186/science-behind-why-we-crave-loud-and-crunchy-foods
I'm really curious as to if this could backfire for the chip companies. Of course, the crunchiness and saltiness of the chips make it addictive, but additives and consumer knowledge of such would make them undesirable - I'm not sure if I'd be stuffing myself with something more chemical than organic. At the same time though, would it ever be worth it for a chip company to find a healthy yet addictive snack? Would it even taste as good as something unhealthy? Do consumers even care about how unhealthy something is (like alcohol, ice cream, fast food, and cigarettes)?
ReplyDelete