Hyperpalatable

“Hyperpalatable” (and also “hyperpalatability”) was coined by American author and administrator David A. Kessler in his book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite (2009). Kessler noted that processed foods often contain sugar and salt that make them highly palatable, even though these foods are not nutritious. Hyperpalatable foods cause people to make poor food choices and to become overweight.
 
‘Hyperpalatable” quickly became a food industry buzzword.
   
 
Wikipedia: David Aaron Kessler
David Aaron Kessler (born May 13, 1951 in New York, New York) is an American pediatrician, lawyer, author, and administrator (both academic and governmental). He was the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from November 8, 1990 to February 28, 1997.
   
Google Books
The End of Overeating:
Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite
By David A. Kessler
New York, NY: Rodale Inc.
2009
Pg. 234:
Ultimately, the goal of Food Rehab is not only to change your eating behavior, but also to fundamentally alter your perceptions of hyperpalatable foods.
 
Google Groups: Running With Books
[Running With Books] Reading at the Table: The End of Overeating
Running With Books
6/9/09
Just last week I was berating myself for giving into a craving and eating something I shouldn’t have. I battle with this frequently, as I know many others do. I have always thought that I was just weak or lazy, but it turns out that our desire for certain foods is a habit that has been ingrained in our brain chemistry (thanks to the food industry), and is extremely difficult to change. Dr. David A. Kessler, a former commissioner of the F.D.A., examines the cycle of overeating in The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. Kessler explains how the right combination of sugar, fat and salt creates foods with “hyperpalatability,” meaning they stimulate the appetite.
     
Washington (DC) Times
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Fat-salt-sugar fix impossible to resist
The Washington Times
Americans - increasingly - justcan’t put down the fork.
 
The frustrating part is that will power alone won’t solve the problem, says Dr. David Kessler, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and author of the recently released book “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite.”
 
Willpower won’t do the trick because we’re up against forces - highly addictive foods, neurological drives and a savvy food industry - that dwarf our resolve. It’s like fighting a 21st-century war with sticks and rocks, hoping we can somehow will ourselves to victory.
 
“Hyperpalatable” is Dr. Kessler’s term for today’s ubiquitous, addictive foods that combine salt, fat and sugar for optimum taste. When food reaches this “bliss point,” it becomes even more stimulating and more addictive.
   
New York (NY) Times
How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Published: June 22, 2009
As head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. David A. Kessler served two presidents and battled Congress and Big Tobacco. But the Harvard-educated pediatrician discovered he was helpless against the forces of a chocolate chip cookie.
(...)
In “The End of Overeating,” Dr. Kessler finds some similarities in the food industry, which has combined and created foods in a way that taps into our brain circuitry and stimulates our desire for more.
(...)
The result is that chain restaurants like Chili’s cook up “hyper-palatable food that requires little chewing and goes down easily,” he notes.
 
Twitter
socialworkout
‏@socialworkout
Term of the day: “Hyperpalatable.” The End of Overeating: http://bit.ly/12b92
9:39 AM - 24 Jun 2009
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The Addiction Potential of Hyperpalatable Foods
Author: Ashley N. Gearhardt Affiliation: Yale University Department of Psychology, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA.; Caroline Davis; Rachel Kuschner; Kelly D. Brownell
Edition/Format: Downloadable article Downloadable article : English
Publication: Current Drug Abuse Reviews, v4 n3 (September 2011): 140-145
Database: Bentham Science Journals
Summary:
Scientific interest in “food addiction” continues to grow due both to neurobiological and behavioral similarities between substance dependence and excessive food consumption. An important next step is to examine the addictive potential of highly processed foods. In this paper, we explore addiction-related changes in the modern food environment (e.g., increased potency, elevated speed of absorption), examine the historical and modern understanding of addictive substances as applied to hyperpalatable foods, and outline shared factors that increase the public health costs of both addictive drugs and certain foods.
 
Essentials of Nutrition
What it Means…Hyper-Palatable
Posted on January 13, 2012
Hyper-palatable is a new buzzword in the diet and food industry.  Perhaps you’ve heard it uttered somewhere.  Maybe that somewhere was a party and you knowingly nodded that “I really don’t understand but don’t want to ask” nod.  You can ask me.
 
Hyper-palatable means, basically, it tastes really good.  Like really, really good.  In any order for any food to be eaten it must be palatable.  Meaning you don’t recoil from its flavor, texture, or scent.  Hyper-palatable is flavor on steroids.
   
io9
How ‘Hyperpalatable’ Foods Could Turn You Into A Food Addict
George Dvorsky
May 12, 2014 11:14am
Over a third of the global population is now overweight, and the percentages are increasing. Some neuroscientists have suggested that the rise of so-called “hyperpalatable foods” may partially explain the unprecedented rates of obesity.
 
Our food environment has changed dramatically over the years, most notably through the introduction of so-called “hyperpalatable” foods. These foods are deliberately engineered in such a way that they surpass the reward properties of traditional foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Food chemists achieve this by suffusing products with increased levels of fat, sugar, flavors, and food additives.