ArcaMax

Food Addictions

I read a particularly disturbing article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Friday.

It’s about Cheetos.

Go figure. Cheetos are a snack food. Snack foods are supposed to be innocent diversions that can be part of an otherwise ordinary day of eating. But are they innocent?

Flaming Hot Cheetos were the focus of the article. Seems kids are addicted to them. Lots of kids. Some of them eat three to four bags of Flaming Hot Cheetos a day. They eat this searingly-tasty item for breakfast in some cases. They eat so many Flaming Hot Cheetos that the red dye covering them colors their fingers to the point they cannot get it to wash off. But why?

I have been known to read columns and books that describe the chemistry involved in the development, manufacturing and marketing of processed foods. When I worked at Quaker Oats in the late 70s I was fascinated by the subject of flavor-enhancements and I was so proud to be part of the marketing team that excelled at getting customers to buy the products and fall in love with them so they bought them repeatedly; even to excess.

Now it makes my stomach churn.

The food companies have mastered this evil talent. They know now how to manipulate flavors and ingredients in snacks and other foods to get you to lose control as you eat them. Think of the Lays potato chip commercials. When they say “You Can’t Eat Just One”, they aren’t kidding. That’s their goal. To get you hooked.

From the Tribune article: Emerging research on food addiction suggests that processed salty, fatty or sweet foods of any kind; also called "hyperpalatable foods" can trigger brain responses similar to those created by controlled substances in addicted individuals.

People react differently to a processed food than they do to foods found whole in nature, said Ashley Gearhardt, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at the University of Michigan.

"It's something that has been engineered so that it is fattier and saltier and more novel to the point where our body, brain and pleasure centers react to it more strongly than if we were eating, say, a handful of nuts," Gearhardt said. "Going along with that, we are seeing those classic signs of addiction, the cravings and loss of control and preoccupation with it."

So the Frito-Lay company celebrates all the way to the bank when they get kids (especially kids in urban areas) to become so devoted to a snack food that they start to write rap songs about it. Check out this video. It was produced as part of a school project on writing in Minneapolis.

It’s sad.

In the development of Plan Z I knew I had to help people get through the detoxing that goes on when you go cold turkey off of sugar, preservatives and artificial flavors and sweeteners. I did that and dieters tell me every day how grateful they are that they are able to diet comfortably. Plan Z dieters are almost exclusively adults. I never thought, until now, about how addicted the kids are becoming -- and at an earlier and earlier age. This is an evil manipulation that has to stop. This goes way beyond Mayor Michael Bloomberg banning the sales of overly-large sodas in New York City. My prediction is that Mayor Bloomberg is going to lose in court. The right to do whatever you want to your body will prevail. That goes for adults and kids. The food companies will continue to win the war over our addictive bodies until we just stop buying their offerings. But it’s just so hard when you are addicted.

I’ve included the link to the full article if you want to read it. It’s long but addictingly interesting. I especially loved the part where the researcher took apart the ingredients list and speculated on the science involved in the manufacture of Flaming Hot Cheetos. Frito-Lay would not comment on the article except to admit that the flavor had been introduced in the 90’s. It’s no wonder why.

Now that it’s getting colder in most parts of the country, I thought I’d bring out the recipe for Creole Seafood Stew. Really easy to make and enjoy for dinner or even carry some to work for lunch.

Creole Seafood Stew
Serves 6

People who like to cook will sometimes ask “What’s the difference between Creole and Cajun?”

The short answer is Creole is the fancier cooking. Creole folks will use more of the expensive ingredients. Cajun is more of a low-country style.

This Creole stew does use some of the more expensive ingredients but you can certainly take the budget down by using a budget-priced fish combo. Stand by. I’ll tell you how.

Ingredients:

1 cup of onion, chopped. Use white or yellow
1 cup of celery, chopped
2 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will do)
28 oz of canned, chopped tomatoes
15 oz of spiced tomatoes. You can choose if you want the ones with green chiles or the new ones spiked with red pepper flakes. If you like mild food or just can’t find either of those, you can use regular chopped tomatoes and just adjust seasoning
15 oz of canned, tomato sauce
1 tsp of Truvia
1 – 2 tsp of chili powder
2 Tbl of Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp of cornstarch
1.5 pounds of shellfish or other fish filets*
1/2 cup of chopped green bell pepper
Optional: Hot sauce (Louisiana or even cracked pepper flakes) can be served on the side. Most folks won’t need to crank up the heat on this though. It’s plenty spicy.

Directions:

Spray a medium soup pan with olive oil spray. Put in the onions and celery. Cook on medium high just until they begin to wilt. Add the garlic and cook about 30 second more, stirring. You don’t want to burn the garlic or get gets a rancid taste.

Add the three cans of tomato product, Truvia, chili powder and Worcestershire. Let cook on medium at a slight bubble, uncovered, for about 15 minutes to get the flavors melded. This will reduce the sauce a bit too.

In a small bowl, add a couple tablespoons of water and mix in the corn starch. Add that to the larger pot of sauce and cook 5 to 10 more minutes as it begins to thicken. Then add the fish/seafood and the green pepper. Cook until the fish is done or until the cooked seafood is warmed through. See notes below.

*For the Creole version you’d use the more expensive seafood. I used one pound of COOKED shrimp (tails removed) and half pound of lump crab meat (cooked and packaged in a can).

For the less expensive, Cajun version you can use any of the seafood above along with fish filets or just go with fish. Fish might be tilapia, cod, flounder, halibut or any firm white fish. Perch and white fish also come to mind. Since those are not likely to be cooked in advance, cut up the filets into chunks and as they cook in the sauce you can break them with a fork into bite sized pieces. Just make sure they are cooked through before eating.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola