Food companies are under attack, standing accused of causing our nation's obesity epidemic. The latest salvo against "Big Food" is that they sell foods that are "addictive" -- as addictive as the nicotine in cigarettes, say some.
Needless to say, any comparison of food and cigarettes is absurd, ludicrous. For starters, food is essential, food supports life. Cigarettes are an optional and deadly habit.
Why are anti-food-company advocates so intent on claiming that foods are addictive? The answer is simple: if specific foods are classified as physiologically addictive, then the obese person becomes a victim, as in, "Oh, it is not my fault I am fat -- my obesity is the result of the treacherous marketing techniques of food companies, which have caused me to lose control over what I eat -- just as my inability to quit smoking is the fault of the cigarette industry selling products with nicotine." And of course, this line of "reasoning" sets up the perfect scenario for the plaintiff lawyers who want to sue food companies for damages.
The word "addiction" is used very loosely today -- as when people claim they are "addicted" to exercise, chocolate, or the Internet. But addiction is a medical term referring to compulsive, habitual use of a substance that has physiological effects but is not necessary for survival. Addictive substances produce tolerance (meaning that it takes an increasing amount of the substance to produce the desired effect) and physical dependence -- and unpleasant symptoms of withdrawal if use is discontinued. The nicotine in cigarettes fits all these criteria. Food does not.
There have been claims that eating high-fat or high-sugar foods overactivates drug-like substances in the brain called endogenous opioid peptides, leading to food cravings, overeating, and obesity. Food, it is argued, causes an increase in neurotransmitter levels just as addicting drugs do. Some animal experiments may support this idea, but other animal data and human observations do not. If overeating were induced through an opioid-like mechanism, one might expect that opioid-antagonists would be useful in treating overeating, but they are not.
High-fat/sugar foods may taste good, but they are not addictive. Obesity is a serious public health problem in the United States -- and we should indeed wage a war against it. But winning a war requires first identifying the real enemy. In this case, the enemy is our habit of eating more calories than we burn -- and the remedies are commitment, willpower, and self-control. Food technologies that reduce the calories in foods, and pharmaceuticals that help reduce calorie consumption or absorption, can help. So can getting up, away from the TV and computer, and participating in healthy exercise. But blaming the food companies for our obesity is a perfect example of the old adage "For every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it never works."
Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H., is President of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com). This piece was reprinted in the February 2, 2007 Boca Raton News.
See also: ACSH's publication Foods Are Not Cigarettes.
