View this email in your browser

By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #108: The factors influencing the food we buy

Find all previously published newsletter facts here
Find a list of thought-provoking books related to food, nutrition, health, and other topics here

This week's "food for thought" excerpt comes from Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2013), by Marion Nestle.

“Humans do not innately know how to select a nutritious diet; we survived in evolution because nutritious foods were ready available for us to hunt or gather. In an economy of overabundance, food companies can sell products only to people who want to buy them. . . . When food is plentiful and people can afford to buy it, basic biological needs become less compelling and the principal determinant of food choice is personal preference. In turn, personal preferences may be influenced by religion and other cultural factors, as well as by considerations of convenience, price, and nutritional value. To sell food in an economy of abundant food choices, companies must worry about those other determinants much more than about the nutritional value of their products -- unless the nutrient content helps to entice buyers. Thus the food industry's marketing imperatives principally concern four factors: taste, cost, convenience, and public confusion.”