Are These Chips Too Delicious?

    They work in secret labs. They refuse to talk about their research. What they learn can be worth millions of dollars. 

    Are these scientists working on a cure for a disease? Are they creating a new weapon? 

    Nope. Their work is right in front of you. It’s in that juice you’re sipping and those chips you’re munching. These scientists are called flavorists. 

    Flavorists use thousands of chemicals and oils to make food taste great. They’re looking for that perfect burst of lemon-lime in your soda. They’re trying to create an irresistible explosion of cheesy flavor in your cracker.And when they get it right, you keep coming back for more.

    They work in secret labs. They won’t talk about their research. They learn things that can be worth millions of dollars. 

    Are these scientists creating a cure for a disease? Are they making a new weapon? 

    Nope. Their work is in the juice you drink. It’s in the chips you eat. These scientists are called flavorists. 

    Flavorists make food taste great. They add flavor with chemicals and oils. They look for the perfect burst of lemon in your soda. They try to create an irresistible cheesy flavor in your cracker. When they get it right, you want more of the drink or food.

    They work in secret labs. They refuse to discuss their research. And what they discover can be worth millions of dollars.

    Are these scientists developing a cure for a terrible disease? Are they creating a new, powerful weapon? 

    Nope. Their work is right in front of you—in that juice you’re sipping, those chips you’re munching, and many other foods. These scientists are called flavorists. 

    Flavorists use thousands of chemicals and oils to improve the flavor of food. They’re searching for that perfect burst of lemon-lime in your soda. They’re trying to create an irresistible explosion of cheesy flavor in your cracker. And when they get the flavors just right, you keep coming back for more.

    Today’s flavor business got its start in the 1950s. That’s when processed food arrived in grocery stores. Processed food is frozen, canned, or treated with preservatives. It can stay fresh for weeks—or even months. 

    Processed food changed how we eat. Companies could now ship food around the country. Americans stopped baking bread and growing their own vegetables. Instead, they bought bread in a plastic bag and beans in a can. 

    There was just one problem. Foods lost their flavor when they were processed. That was the problem the first flavorists were hired to fix.

    Today, nearly 60 percent of the foods we eat are processed. Flavorists still work to make these foods taste good. They also search the world for new flavors—like chipotle peppers from Mexico. And they dream up new flavors for well-known snacks. (Dill pickle potato chips, anyone?)

    Today’s flavor business started in the 1950s. That’s when grocery stores began selling processed food. Processed food is frozen, canned, or treated with preservatives. It can stay fresh for weeks or months. 

    Processed food changed how we eat. Companies could ship food around the country. Americans stopped baking bread. They stopped growing their own vegetables. They bought bread in a plastic bag. They bought beans in a can. 

    But there was a problem. Food loses its flavor when it is processed. The first flavorists were hired to fix that problem.

    Today, nearly 60 percent of the foods we eat are processed. Flavorists work to make these foods taste good. They also search for new flavors, such as chipotle peppers from Mexico. And they dream up new flavors. (Dill pickle potato chips, anyone?)

    Today’s flavor business can be traced back to the 1950s, when processed food arrived in grocery stores. Processed food is frozen, canned, or treated with preservatives so that it stays fresh for weeks or even months. 

    Processed food drastically changed how we eat. Because companies could now ship food around the country, Americans stopped baking bread and growing their own vegetables. Instead, they bought bread in a plastic bag and beans in a can.

    But there was one big problem—foods lost their flavor when they were processed. The first flavorists were hired to fix that problem.

    Today, nearly 60 percent of the foods we eat are processed. Flavorists still have the job of making these foods taste good. But they also search the world for new flavors, like chipotle peppers from Mexico, and they dream up new flavors for well-known snacks. (Dill pickle potato chips, anyone?) 

    It can take years to come up with a new flavor. A successful one can earn millions of dollars. That’s why flavorists keep their work secret. But why do we love some tastes and not others?

    Check out your tongue in a mirror. That slimy pink blob has thousands of taste buds on it. Those taste buds can sense five different flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Umami is a rich flavor, like you taste in meat or cheese.

    Our ability to sense flavors has helped us survive. Thousands of years ago, people hunted and gathered food in the wild. A quick taste could tell them whether a food was edible or deadly. A bitter berry? It might be poisonous! That sour hunk of buffalo meat? Bleh, it’s rotten!

    Yet your tongue isn’t the only way you sense flavor. Your nose is even more important. The tongue knows whether a food is sweet or bitter. But your sense of smell tells you pretty much everything else. Without it, you couldn’t tell chocolate ice cream from vanilla.

    Creating a new flavor can take years. A successful flavor can earn millions of dollars for a food company. So flavorists keep their work secret. But why do we love some tastes and not others?

    Look at your tongue in a mirror. That slimy pink blob has thousands of taste buds on it. Those taste buds can sense five flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Umami is a rich flavor. You taste it in meat and cheese.

    Being able to sense flavors has helped us survive. Thousands of years ago, people hunted and gathered food in the wild. They knew whether a food was edible or deadly by its taste. A bitter berry? It might be poisonous. Sour meat? It might be rotten.

    But to sense flavor, you need more than your tongue. You need your nose. The tongue can tell whether a food is sweet or bitter. But your sense of smell tells you everything else. Without it, you couldn’t tell chocolate from vanilla.

    Creating a new flavor can take years. A successful one can result in millions of dollars of profit. That’s why flavorists are secretive about their work. But why do we love some tastes and not others?

    Check out your tongue in a mirror. That slimy pink blob has thousands of taste buds that can sense five different flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. (The rich flavor you taste in meat or cheese is umami.)

    Our ability to sense flavors has helped us survive. Thousands of years ago, people hunted and gathered food in the wild. A quick taste could tell them whether a food was edible or deadly. A bitter berry? It might be poisonous! That sour hunk of buffalo meat? Bleh, it’s rotten!

    This may sound surprising, but your nose is even more important than your tongue in sensing flavors. The tongue can determine whether a food is sweet, bitter, or another of the five main flavors. But your sense of smell tells you practically everything else. Without it, you wouldn’t know the difference between chocolate ice cream and vanilla.

    Flavorists know how taste works. And food companies know which flavors will sell best. How? They spend big bucks to study us. They know we like our chips crunchy. They know how thick we like our doughnut glaze. They know how to make food taste great—maybe too great.

    Many of the foods we love are the least healthy. We love chips that are full of salt. We love drinks that are packed with sugar. Research shows that some flavors even make us think we’re not full. So we just keep eating. This means more money for food companies. It also means more health problems for us.

    Most food companies say they’re just doing their job. Isn’t it up to us to know when we’ve had enough?

    Of course it is. But those chips we’ve been munching on? They taste so good. Maybe we’ll have just a few more. 

    Flavorists know how taste works. And food companies know which flavors will sell best. They spend a lot of money to study us. So they know we like crunchy chips. They know how thick we like the glaze on a doughnut. They make food taste great. Maybe they make it too great.

    Many processed foods are not healthy. Chips can be full of salt. Drinks can be packed with sugar. Some flavors make us think we’re not full. We keep eating. This means more money for food companies. But it also means more health problems for us.

    Most food companies say they’re just doing their job. They say we should know when we’ve eaten enough.

    That’s true. But those chips we’re eating? They taste so good. Maybe we’ll have just a few more. 

    Flavorists have a deep knowledge of how taste works, and food companies know which flavors will sell best. How? They spend big bucks to study us. They’ve learned that we like our chips crunchy, that our doughnut glaze needs to have a certain thickness, and much more. They use this information to make food taste great—maybe too great.

    Many of our favorite foods—such as salty chips and sugary drinks—are the least healthy. Research shows that some flavors even make us think we’re not full, so we just keep eating. This results in bigger profits for food companies, but it also means more health problems for us.

    Most food companies insist that they’re just doing their job. Isn’t it up to us to know when to stop?

    Of course. But those chips we’ve been munching on? They taste so delicious! Maybe we’ll have just a few more.