We all talk about being addicted to foods such as chocolate or crisps but does food addiction actually exist?
No, according to some scientists and nutritionists who gathered in Dublin recently to discuss the issue. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s consultative council brought them together at a conference to ask if it was possible to be addicted to certain foods or ingredients.
The experts included Prof Julian Mercer, who heads the obesity and metabolic health division of the University of Aberdeen. He says the media loves the idea of food addiction and regularly produces provocative and exasperating headlines claiming fast food is as addictive as heroin, or that cookies have the same addictive qualities as cocaine.
The clear implication is that millions of people are involved in this addiction and they can be compared to drug addicts. “You could have a whole library full of books just on sucrose addiction,” he says.
“But addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease characterised by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.
“Is that [definition] appropriate to describe many people’s interactions with food? That’s the critical issue.”
He believes there is insufficient evidence to suggest that common foods or particular ingredients have addictive qualities. Unlike drugs, he says food does not cause neural changes in the brain and there’s no evidence of withdrawal effects.
Mercer says the term “eating addiction” might be a more appropriate way to describe problematic relationships with food “avoiding the implication that food contains addictive chemicals that can induce a substance-related disorder”.
He also warns that the frequent use of the term food addiction does not help obese people. “How do people with a weight problem respond to the idea of food addiction? Is that helpful or is it actually a negative thing for them?”
He says most people gain weight slowly over years or decades. “It is not helpful to then say you can blame it all on food addiction because that’s almost saying: ‘Well, then it’s not my fault. It’s the food and drink industry’s fault for doing this.’ ”
Mercer believes most people could lose weight by making small adjustments to their daily routines but if we keep describing their weight problem as an addiction, it could make them feel that they have no control over their overeating.
However, Dr Mary Flynn, the Food Safety Authority's chief specialist in public health nutrition, says it's not completely our own fault if we overeat. She says we are surrounded by treats and unhealthy foods, everywhere we look.
“People are under siege as high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt foods are designed by highly advanced scientific intelligence to appeal to our human senses in a way that completely surpasses the appeal of the less-processed food we need for nourishment,” she says. These foods are cheaper and more convenient and they are promoted much more aggressively than healthier foods.
Flynn says she was shocked to find that this starts as soon as we begin spoonfeeding. She was involved in research published in 2012 that found 15 per cent of baby food tested was inappropriate for young babies because of its high salt, fat and sugar content. She says parents should never assume that, just because it’s baby food, it’s high-quality food.
Then when children go to school, they might find their natural instinct to run around curbed by a ban on running in the school yard for insurance reasons.
Cinemas sell them popcorn and soft drinks that contain the entire recommended daily allowance and they are surrounded by advertising for treats whenever they step outside the door.
“It’s an uneven competition,” she says. “And we are only human.”
