It’s a bold claim, to be sure. The studies that backed this claim were performed on rats. Scientists used results from a previous study in which rats that were placed in a maze learned to locate one of two rooms where they received a cocaine injection or a placebo injection. The study showed that even after the injection supplies dried up, the rat would still hang out in the drug room.
This behavioral pattern is called “conditioned place preference,” and it’s not a new concept. It’s related to Pavlov’s experiments. The Oreo experiment came into existence when researchers wondered if junk food — in particular, Oreos — would have the same behavioral effect on the rats.
The rats that were trained on Oreos learned to frequent the Oreo room — just as the rats who received cocaine learned to frequent the cocaine room.
In order to further cement the results of the rat studies, scientists dissected the brains of their rodent subjects.
”We found that there was a greater number of neurons that were activated in the brain’s pleasure center in animals that were conditioned to Oreos compared to animals that were conditioned to cocaine,” Researcher Joseph Schroeder told The Atlantic.
Schroeder said the results suggest high-fat, high-sugar foods produced by big food companies such as Nabisco stimulate the brain in the same way as drugs.
This is hardly breaking news.
Earlier this year, Michael Moss, a New York Times reporter, released a book titled “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.” He detailed the ways junk-food producers put a ridiculous amount of effort into crafting the perfect amount of crunch in a potato chip.
The unifying characteristic between all the food giants is their continued effort to calculate the right level of bliss and dissatisfaction — or, in layman’s terms, the inability to eat a single potato chip.
The results of this study has stirred up a familiar conversation about obesity.
It’s easy to blame America’s inflated obesity rates on the addictive nature of junk food. However, Oreos are available in many other countries in many other flavors, including green tea ice cream Oreos in China and dulce de leche Oreos in Argentina.
Many other factors play in the link between the proliferation of junk food in America and obesity. The sad fact is highly processed foods are cheaper and more accessible — especially in “food deserts,” or places where the only grocery store in a neighborhood may be a 7-Eleven.
As sensationalized reports make headlines, keep in mind that obesity isn’t a matter of weak willpower: It’s an issue rooted in politics and a lack of social services — including education on proper nutrition and access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 10/21/2013 under the headline "The white (and black) stuff: Oreos are like cocaine"
