Ch. 5: Why the Fries Taste so Good Megan Morris

J.R. Simplot dropped out of school at fifteen, against his dad’s will, and left his home. He found work at in Delco, Idaho at a potato warehouse He met a few schoolteachers in the boarding house where he rented a room. The schoolteachers sold scrip for 50 cents. He bought the scrip and then sold it for 90 cents. Thus, starting to learn about business.

J.R. Simplot grew up doing a lot of small business things, and then won a coin toss to win a potato sorter from a man named Maggart. With the potato sorter, Simplot started his own business in a potato cellar in Declo, Idaho. Within a decade, Simplot was the largest potato shipper in the West.

He gave potatoes to the soldiers in WWII. After WWII, Simplot invested in a lot of frozen food technology and created frozen French fries. The French fries didn’t sell very well, but he began selling the frozen fries to McDonald’s and Simplot quickly became the main supplier of fries to McDonald’s.

The 8th grade dropout was now one of the richest men in the U.S. 2 other companies began competing for the frozen french fry business and competition got rough. Idaho potato farmers had a growing pressure and it got tough for them to keep up the farming. About half of the potato farmers in Idaho have been lost in the past 25 years.

McDonalds changed to pure vegetable oil in 1990, which gives the fries their unique flavor “artificial flavor” and “natural flavor” are both man-made additives that give food most of its taste. The flavor industry is highly secretive The taste buds on our tongue can detect half a dozen or so basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, astringent, and umami.

The flavor industry emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, as processed foods began to be manufactured on a large scale. The need for flavor additives was recognized and they turned to perfume companies that had years of experience for help. Legend has it that a German scientist discovered methyl anthranilate, one of the first artificial flavors, by accident by mixing chemincals in his library

The methyl anthranilate later became the chief flavoring compund of grape Kool-Aid. After WWII, many perfume companies moved from Europe to the U.S., bringing the flavor industry with it. Man-made flavor additives were used mainly in baked goods, candies, and sodas until the 50’s when processed food sales began to soar The number of flavors that could be synthesized increased due to the invention of gas chromatographs and mass spectrometers that detect volatile gases at low levels.

The American flavor industry now has annual revenues of about $1 The American flavor industry now has annual revenues of about $1.4 billion. Approximately ten thousand new processed food products are introduced every year in the U.S. and almost all of them require food additives. About 9 out of every 10 of these new products fail. The color additives in processed foods are usually present in even smaller amounts than the flavor compounds.

Although flavors usually arise from a mixture of many different volatile chemicals , a single compound often supplies the dominant aroma. Smelled alone, the chemical provides an unmistakable sense of the food. The 60’s were the heyday of artificial flavors. For the past twenty years food processors have tried hard to use only “natural flavors”. The small and elite group of scientists who create most of the flavor in most of the food now consumed in the U.S. are called “flavorists”.

In order to give processed food the proper taste, a flavorist must always consider the food’s “mouthfeel” – the unique combination of textures and chemical interactions that affects how the flavor is perceived. The mouthfeel can be adjusted through the use of various fats, gums, starches, emulsifiers, and stabilizers. Some of the most important advances in flavor manufacturing are now occuring in the field of biotechnology.

Studies have found that the color of a food can greatly affect how its taste is perceived. Brightly colored foods frequently seem to taste better than bland-looking food. The FDA does not require companies to disclose ingredients in their additives. The Vegetarian Legal Action Network recently petitioned the FDA to issue new food labeling requirements for foods with natural flavoring.

Babies like sweet tastes and reject bitter ones. Food preferences are formed during the first few years of your life through socialization. One of the most widely used color additives violates a number of religious dietary restrictions, may cause allergic reactions in susceptible people, and comes from an unusual source

Cochineal extract is made from the dessicated bodies of female Dactylyopius coccus Costa, a small insect. GROSSSSS!!!