... [an] excellent new book.

Investigative reporter Michael Moss explains why a major food corporation — Lay's is owned by PepsiCo — would produce such an over-the-top number of versions of potato chips. We are prone to what food scientists called sensory-specific satiety, feeling full when we take in a lot of the same taste, smell, or flavor. Changing a food item even just a little, from barbecue to honey barbecue, let's say, makes for novelty that lights up our brain.

What if the foods we’re scarfing down have been designed and marketed to become addictive? While presenting his case, Mr. Moss offers a gripping, if incomplete, tour of America’s food landscape, taking side trips into biology and psychology and, not least, into the world of corporate food conglomerates. Mr. Moss begins with the science of addiction. A skilled storyteller, he talks to an array of experts and cites surprising facts—for instance, 17% of those who try cocaine, and 15% who try alcohol, become addicted. The definition of addiction he likes best—'a repetitive behavior that some people find difficult to quit'.

Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Moss is a powerhouse when it comes to research and analysis, and much like his contemporary Michael Lewis, he possesses the ability to maintain a solid narrative arc. Characteristically, the author opens his deep dive back into the processed food industry with a story about a Brooklyn schoolgirl whose craving for McDonald’s led to morbid obesity during adolescence.

... propulsive action and twists that keep the reader guessing .. page-turning.