“All addicted: the trap of ultra-processed foods” on Arte, how the industry makes us salivate

When Brazilian nutrition professor Carlos Monteiro looked into the causes of the rise in obesity in his country in 2009, he made a surprising discovery: his fellow citizens were buying less cooking oil, salt and sugar. Good news? In reality, if consumers had abandoned these basic products, it was primarily because they had stopped cooking and were eating industrial dishes – instant noodles, frozen trays, chocolate biscuits, etc. It was hard to resist, and for good reason: for fifty years, the giants of the food industry have flooded the market with these tempting and quickly ingested products.

This is what this investigation, built around edifying testimonies, shows. Those of scientists exploring the harmful consequences of this diet on our health – overweight, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases – but also those of former industry collaborators, explaining, sometimes with pride, how they contributed to the hegemony of these products. Thus the American neuroscientist who introduced the use of brain scanning within the multinational Unilever. Objective? To observe the impact of their merchandise on the brains of consumers with the aim of making them even more satisfying.

To achieve this, the food industry can rely on additives, these chemical compounds that give food its color, its shine, its smoothness, etc. A former industrial employee who moved to public health, a Cambridge researcher sums it up: "It's not food, it's 'formulas' whose aim is to generate ever more profit."