Tobacco companies weren’t normal consumer businesses. They were some of the earliest organizations to deeply study human behavior, reward systems, habit formation, and how to create products that people would continue to consume even when they were fully aware of the negative consequences.
Their survival depended on understanding how craving works at a neurological level, how cues trigger desire, and how to keep that loop running without the consumer consciously noticing it.
When pressure around smoking began to mount, that expertise didn’t disappear. It simply moved into food, which operates on the same reward pathways but with far less stigma and far fewer regulations.
Sugar, refined carbohydrates, added fats, and artificial flavors offered a perfect medium because they could be combined in ways that stimulated dopamine while delaying satiety, meaning people would keep eating not because they were hungry, but because their brains were being subtly encouraged to continue.
That’s the real mechanism here. Hyper-palatable foods aren’t just enjoyable, they are engineered to reduce the natural stopping point that whole foods normally provide. Over time, this shifts how people experience hunger, fullness, and craving, which explains why so many feel out of control around certain foods while having no issue with others.
When these products become the majority of someone’s diet, the relationship with food quietly changes. Eating becomes less about nourishment or energy and more about managing cravings that were designed into the system in the first place.
Framed this way, the modern struggle with ultra-processed foods looks much less like a personal failure and much more like a predictable outcome of applying addiction science to something people consume multiple times a day.
Most people never realize this is happening, because from the outside it just looks like “normal food.” But the psychology underneath it is anything but normal.
If you want our tested and approved grocery store products comment “SCAN” and we’ll send you our app.
Their survival depended on understanding how craving works at a neurological level, how cues trigger desire, and how to keep that loop running without the consumer consciously noticing it.
When pressure around smoking began to mount, that expertise didn’t disappear. It simply moved into food, which operates on the same reward pathways but with far less stigma and far fewer regulations.
Sugar, refined carbohydrates, added fats, and artificial flavors offered a perfect medium because they could be combined in ways that stimulated dopamine while delaying satiety, meaning people would keep eating not because they were hungry, but because their brains were being subtly encouraged to continue.
That’s the real mechanism here. Hyper-palatable foods aren’t just enjoyable, they are engineered to reduce the natural stopping point that whole foods normally provide. Over time, this shifts how people experience hunger, fullness, and craving, which explains why so many feel out of control around certain foods while having no issue with others.
When these products become the majority of someone’s diet, the relationship with food quietly changes. Eating becomes less about nourishment or energy and more about managing cravings that were designed into the system in the first place.
Framed this way, the modern struggle with ultra-processed foods looks much less like a personal failure and much more like a predictable outcome of applying addiction science to something people consume multiple times a day.
Most people never realize this is happening, because from the outside it just looks like “normal food.” But the psychology underneath it is anything but normal.
If you want our tested and approved grocery store products comment “SCAN” and we’ll send you our app.