Food Conference Explores Evidence for Food Addiction
Wednesday, 5 November 2014
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s (FSAI) Food Safety Consultative Council today hosted an open meeting to discuss the topic of food addition and to explore if it is possible to be addicted to certain food products. ‘Food Addiction – Believe it or Not?’ provided a platform for international and national experts to debate the attitudes and consumption patterns of consumers and whether food choices can lead to addictive behaviours.
According to Ms Veronica Campbell, Chair, Food Safety Consultative Council, the open meeting gives the general public an opportunity to see the workings of the Food Safety Consultative Council and to participate in current topics of interest in the food health arena.
“This event draws on the views of leading experts from the nutrition, public health, physiology and metabolic health community to evaluate and discuss how and if consumers’ consumption patterns are influenced by numerous factors. Now more than ever there is a plethora of sometimes conflicting information on how what we eat is impacting on public and individual health. Our experts will seek to dispel some myths and give us the facts on whether food addiction is a reality or simply a mis-interpretation,” said Ms Campbell.
Opening the event today, Leo Varadkar, T.D., Minister for Health said that food consumption and health are closely connected.
“Studies now show that 2 out of 3 Irish adults, and 1 in 4 primary school children, are overweight or obese. These disturbing statistics represent a major challenge. It’s a challenge for health professionals, for parents, for individuals and for society as a whole. Today’s theme of food choices and consumer behaviour is particularly relevant in Ireland today, as overweight and obesity are now a public health priority. The same is very true in Ireland. Fortunately, a number of initiatives aimed at tackling obesity are now in place and many more are planned. I hope we can make progress in this important area in the future, particularly through the Government's Healthy Ireland initiative,” said Minister Varadkar.
Dr Mary Flynn, Chief Specialist: Public Health Nutrition, FSAI told over 80 delegates that people might think they are addicted when they find it impossible to avoid treat foods. However, people are actually 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.
“There is no doubt we would benefit from completely avoiding high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt treat foods, as more and more of us in Ireland are becoming overweight and obese (a problem that gets worse with age - only 13% of men over 50 are a healthy weight). As well as being far more tempting, these foods are cheaper, more convenient and promoted much more aggressively than the foods we actually need for health. It's an uneven competition and we are only human,” Dr Flynn explained.
Prof. Julian Mercer, Head of Obesity and Metabolic Health at the University of Aberdeen outlined to delegates that the concept of food addiction has been widely and frequently reported in the media, and it would be easy to form the view that this provides an explanation for the weight problems that many people experience.
“However, evidence that specific foods or ingredients are addictive in an analogous way to drugs of abuse, alcohol or nicotine is largely absent. 'Diagnosis' of food addiction with the Yale Food Addiction Scale is largely based on eating patterns and habits, i.e. behaviours not chemicals. “Eating addiction” might be a more appropriate term to describe problematic relationships with food, avoiding the implication that food contains addictive chemicals. For most individuals with a weight problem, weight gain occurs rather slowly over periods of years or decades, and it is almost certainly completely inappropriate to suggest that food addiction or eating addiction has any role to play,” said Prof. Mercer.
According to Dr John Menzies, Research Fellow with the Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh, even when we're not hungry certain foods seem to call to us.
“Appetite is mainly controlled by well-characterised unconscious brain systems that ensure we seek out and consume enough energy and nutrients for survival. However, it's clear that many of us are eating much more than we need just to survive. This raises important questions about how food influences behaviour and whether some foods encourage us to overeat. While there is strong evidence that sugary and fatty foods can activate the brain's reward pathway, whether food can be considered "addictive" is still a controversial question.”
Ms Paula Mee, Nutrition Consulting informed delegates at the meeting that the concept of food addiction remains provocative and additional research is necessary to inform us as to how we can best treat patients and regulate their weight. In the meantime, an increasing number of the general overweight population find mindful eating and other techniques useful in self-regulation.
The event was chaired by Ms Suzanne Campbell, Food Writer.
Food Safety Consultative Council