• Question: Why does unhealthy food taste better than healthy foods?

    Asked by to Del, Catherine, John, Krishna, Mo Rassul on 17 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Krishna Mohan Surapaneni

      Krishna Mohan Surapaneni answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      Because of a process called as…..”OXIDATIVE RANCIDITY”

      Rancidity is a term generally used to denote unpleasant odours and flavours in foods resulting from deterioration in the fat or oil portion of a food. Three different mechanisms of rancidity may occur. These are oxidative, hydrolytic, and ketonic.

      Oxidative Rancidity:
      Oxidative rancidity arises from the decomposition of peroxides. Peroxides are the result of the oxidation of unsaturated fats. The products resulting from the decomposition of peroxides include aldehydes, ketones, and hydrocarbons. These help to produce the flavours and odours associated with oxidative rancidity. The abnormal characteristics of a product that has undergone oxidative rancidity are paint like or acrid (burning) odour and an abnormal (rancid) taste. The colour of a food item is not normally changed due to this deteriorative process. The texture of a food product is not affected by the deteriorative condition.

    • Photo: Adelle Thrower

      Adelle Thrower answered on 18 Mar 2014:

      Basically fats and sugars are tastier for our palate. It might be an evolutionary thing where as cavemen we didn’t get to eat so often so stocked up if fatty food was available.
      It’s a shame as naughty food does always taste soooooo good!

Comments