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Food and Health Fact #64
Fact #64: Changing the public perception of unhealthy food
By Matthew Rees
Food and Health Fact #64: Changing the public perception of unhealthy food
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This week's "food for thought" excerpt comes from The End of Overeating (2009), by former FDA commissioner David Kessler.
"Government has a role to play [in addressing overeating], but if you look at the great public health successes, they come from changes in how we perceive a product. The success with tobacco wasn't done by regulation or legislation -- it was done by changing how people perceived the product. From, 'That's something I want, that's glamorous, that's sexy,' to 'This is deadly, disgusting product.'
"The real goal is to change how we view food. If we look at something and say, 'That's going to make me feel good. I want that,' our brains will become activated. If we look at it and say, 'Ugh, that's disgusting. I'd rather have something else,' our brains aren't going to be stimulated in the same way. We have to take the power away from the food by changing how we view the food. It's food rehab."
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