A boy smiling with chips decorating the background
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Are These Chips Too Delicious? / Love at First Crunch

Scientists know the secrets of making food taste great. But all this yumminess might be bad for our health.

By Lauren Tarshis

Learning Objective: Students will read two articles about how food companies make foods—especially potato chips—irresistible. Students will synthesize information from each article to question what goes into snacks and whether these snacks are healthy.

Lexiles: 800L-900L, 700L-800L
Guided Reading Level: T
DRA Level: 50

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Synthesizing

As you read these articles, look for what each one tells you about how and why companies make food taste great.

Are These Chips Too Delicious?

Scientists know the secrets of making food taste great. But all this yumminess might be bad for our health.

They work in secret labs. They do not speak of their research. What they learn can be worth millions of dollars. It can change lives. 

Are these scientists working on a cure for a disease? On a new weapon? Nope. Their work is right in front of you. It’s in that fruit juice you’re sipping and in those chips you’re munching. These scientists are called flavorists. They work to make food taste great. They excel at concocting flavors you will love, from a lip-smacking berry for a sports drink to a mouthwatering chili-cheese coating for a pretzel.

Flavorists use thousands of chemicals, oils, and extracts. Some chemicals are natural; they come from plants and animal products. Others are synthetic. Even a simple flavor, like the strawberry taste of a milkshake, may have 50 chemicals in it. 

Meet some special scientists. They work in secret labs. They don’t talk about their research. What they learn can be worth millions of dollars. It can change lives.

Are they working on a cure for a disease? Or a new weapon? Nope. Their work is right in front of you. It’s in that fruit juice you’re sipping. It’s in those chips you’re munching. These scientists are called flavorists. They work to make food taste delicious. They’re great at concocting flavors you will love—like a sweet berry taste for a sports drink. Or a mouthwatering chili-cheese coating for a pretzel.

Flavorists use thousands of products. Some are natural. They come from plant or animal products. Others are synthetic, or made in a lab. Think about the strawberry taste of a milkshake. It may have 50 ingredients in it.

From Fresh to Tasteless

Today’s flavor industry got its start in the 1950s. At that time, eating habits in the U.S. changed. It used to be that if you wanted some cookies, you had to bake them or go to the bakery. To get fruits or veggies, you had to grow them yourself or buy them fresh from a nearby farm. 

But processed food changed all that. Food that has been processed has been frozen, canned, or treated with chemicals called preservatives. These chemicals keep food fresh for days—or months—on store shelves. Processing started in the 1800s. In the 1940s, companies began to use preservatives in a big way. With new highways and refrigerated trucks, companies could send their foods to stores around the country. But most foods lost their flavor as they sat in trucks and on shelves. The goal of the first food flavorists was to make processed foods taste even halfway as good as fresh. 

Today, nearly 60 percent of the foods we eat are processed. Flavorists still work to make these foods taste good. They also invent new flavors. They search the world for new tastes to bring to the U.S., like chipotle peppers from Mexico and acai berries from Brazil. And they dream up new flavors for well-known snacks. (Have you tried Lay’s Dill Pickle potato chips? Neither have we!) 

Today’s flavor business got its start in the 1950s. Before that, if you wanted some cookies, you had to bake them or go to the bakery. You had to grow fruits and veggies or buy them fresh from a farm.

But that all changed when food started to be processed. That means it has been frozen, canned, or treated with preservatives. Preservatives keep food fresh for days—or months—on store shelves. In the 1940s, companies began to use them in a big way. There were new highways and refrigerated trucks. So companies could send their foods to stores around the country. But most foods lost their flavor. The first food flavorists had to try to make processed foods taste fresh.

Today, nearly 60 percent of the foods we eat are processed. Flavorists still work to make these foods taste good. They also invent new flavors. They search the world for new tastes to bring to the U.S.—like chipotle peppers from Mexico. And they dream up new flavors for well-known snacks. (Have you tried Lay’s Dill Pickle potato chips?)

Slimy Pink Blob

It can take years to perfect a new taste. A successful flavor—a tangy citrus for gum, a zesty spice for chips—can earn millions of dollars. No wonder flavor companies guard their formulas with such care.

But what makes a flavor “good”? Why do we love some tastes and not others? 

Check out your tongue in a mirror. That slimy pink blob is a great flavor-detecting tool. You have 10,000 taste buds on the insides of your cheeks and on your tongue. They can sense five different flavors. These flavors are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, which is a rich flavor, like meat or cheese.

Our power to sense flavors is a survival tool. Thousands of years ago, when people hunted and gathered food in the wild, a quick taste could tell them whether a food was edible or deadly. A bitter berry? It will kill you! That sour hunk of buffalo meat? Bleh, it’s rotten! 

Yet our tongues play only a small role in how we sense flavor. Ever wonder why food tastes bland when your nose is stuffed up? It’s because your tongue is pretty lost without your nose. The tongue knows whether a food is sweet or bitter. But it takes both taste and smell to tell your brain whether that ice cream you’re eating is chocolate or vanilla. 

It can take years to perfect a new taste—a tangy citrus for gum or a zesty spice for chips. A successful flavor can earn millions of dollars. No wonder flavor companies keep their findings secret.

But what makes a flavor “good”? Why do we love some tastes and not others?

Check out your tongue in a mirror. That slimy pink blob is great at detecting flavors. You have 10,000 taste buds inside your mouth. They can sense five different flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. That’s a rich flavor, like you taste in meat or cheese.

Our power to sense flavors has helped humans survive. Thousands of years ago, people hunted and gathered food in the wild. A quick taste could tell them whether a food was edible or deadly. A bitter berry? It will kill you! That sour hunk of buffalo meat? It’s rotten!

Still, your tongue is pretty lost without your nose. The tongue knows whether a food is sweet or bitter. But it takes both taste and smell to tell your brain whether that ice cream you’re eating is chocolate or vanilla.

Burst of Flavor

Flavorists know how taste works. And food companies know which tastes will sell best. How do they know? They spend big bucks to study us. They research our diets. They ask us questions. They chart our buying habits. They have found that the best-selling products “pop” in the mouth, with a burst of flavor that quickly fades, leaving the brain wanting more. Food companies know how we like most foods. They know how crunchy we like our chips. They know how thick we want our doughnut glaze. They know how to make food taste great—maybe too great. 

Many of the foods we love most are the least healthy. We love chips that are full of fat and salt. We love cookies, yogurts, and drinks packed with sugar. Some experts believe food companies deliberately make foods that are almost impossible to resist. Studies show that certain textures matched with just the right flavor confuse our body’s system for knowing when we’re full. So we just keep eating. This means more money for food companies. And it means more health problems for us—like obesity or illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Most food companies say they’re just doing their job. They make foods that taste great. Isn’t it up to us to know when we’ve had enough? 

Of course it is. 

Those chips we’ve been munching on? We know we need to stop. We’ve had way too many.

But they taste so good. Maybe we’ll have just a few more.

Flavorists know how taste works. And food companies know which tastes will sell best. How do they know? They spend big bucks to study us. They research our diets. They ask us questions. Food companies know how we like most foods. They know how crunchy we like our chips. They know how thick we want our doughnut glaze. They know how to make food taste great. Maybe too great.

Many of the foods we love most are the least healthy. We love chips that are full of fat and salt. We love cookies, yogurts, and drinks packed with sugar. Some experts believe food companies aim to make foods nearly impossible to resist. Studies show that putting certain textures and flavors together confuses our bodies. We no longer know when we’re full. So we just keep eating. This means more money for food companies. And it means more health problems for us—like obesity and illnesses such as heart disease.

Most food companies say they’re just doing their job. They make foods that taste great. It’s up to us to know when we’ve had enough, right?

Of course it is.

Those chips we’ve been munching on? We know we need to stop. We’ve had way too many.

But they taste so good. Maybe we’ll have just a few more.

Love at First Crunch 

Meet the man behind one of our favorite snacks. 

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The story goes something like this: In the summer of 1853, a chef named George Crum was cooking up french fries at a restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. A customer sent his fries back to the kitchen, complaining that they were too thick and soggy. 

Crum decided to teach this picky customer a lesson. So he sliced up potatoes as thin as he could and fried them to a hard, brown crisp. He was sure they would be inedible.

Here’s the story: It was the summer of 1853. A chef named George Crum was cooking up french fries at a restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. A customer sent his fries back to the kitchen. He complained that they were too thick and soggy.

Crum decided to teach this picky customer a lesson. He sliced up potatoes as thin as he could. Then he fried them to a hard, brown crisp. He was sure they would be terrible.

George Crum

But something surprising happened: The customer didn’t turn up his nose at these crunchy fried potatoes. In fact, he gobbled up the delicious new treat. Other diners began to ask for them too. Soon, the restaurant was known for its famous “Saratoga Chips.” 

History experts aren’t sure whether this tale is 100 percent true, or even that Crum was the first person to invent potato chips. But he definitely helped make them popular in the U.S. And more than 150 years later, potato chips are still one of America’s favorite snacks. 

But something surprising happened. The customer didn’t turn up his nose at these crunchy fried potatoes. In fact, he gobbled up the delicious new treat. Other diners began to ask for them too. Soon, the restaurant was known for its famous “Saratoga Chips.”

History experts aren’t sure whether this tale is totally true. Maybe Crum wasn’t even the first person to invent potato chips. But he definitely helped make them popular in the U.S. And more than 150 years later, potato chips are still one of America’s favorite snacks.

Crunch Craving

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It’s not surprising that Crum’s creation became such a hit. Research shows that humans naturally crave noisy, crunchy foods.

Why? Some scientists think it’s because crunchy foods tend to be fresh. Think of the satisfying snap you hear when you bite into a stalk of celery or a crisp apple. The crunchiness of fruits and vegetables helped tell our early human ancestors that these foods were fresh and healthy. And even though potato chips aren’t very nutritious, they still appeal to our brain’s built-in love of crunch.

Today, food companies research and experiment to create the perfect crunchiness. They’ve figured out exactly how much tooth pressure it should take to crush a chip. They’ve calculated how loud the sound is. (It can reach 63 decibels—as loud as a washing machine.) They’ve designed the bag to keep chips crispy for as long as possible.

So the next time you tear into a bag of chips, you can think about the work that went into each crunch. And in between noisy mouthfuls, you can thank George Crum.

It’s not surprising that Crum’s creation became a hit. Research shows that humans naturally crave noisy, crunchy foods.

Why? Some scientists think it’s because crunchy foods tend to be fresh. Think of the nice snap you hear when you bite into a stalk of celery or a crisp apple. This crunchiness helped tell humans of long ago that these foods were fresh and healthy. Potato chips aren’t very nutritious. But our brains still love that crunch.

Today, food companies experiment to create the perfect crunchiness. They’ve figured out exactly how hard your teeth should push to crush a chip. They’ve measured how loud the sound is. (It can be as loud as a washing machine.) They’ve designed the bag to keep chips crispy for as long as possible.

So the next time you tear into a bag of chips, think about the work that went into each crunch. And in between noisy mouthfuls, you can thank George Crum.

This article was originally published in the December 2020 / January 2021 issue.

This article was originally published in the December 2020 / January 2021 issue.

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Can't-Miss Teaching Extras
Watch a video.

Flavor science isn’t the only potato-chip technology that’s advanced over the years. The chip manufacturing process has also gotten more hi-tech. Watch the process from start to finish in this fascinating video from NPR.

Meet a flavorist.

In this three-minute video, take a trip to the laboratory of International Flavors and Fragrances. There, you’ll meet Marie Wright, a flavorist, and watch as she works to create the perfect flavor of mac and cheese. 

Learn how we taste.

This webpage from KidsHealth explains in kid-friendly language how taste buds work. The site also includes two fun and easy experiments, one about the role of saliva in taste and another on the role of the nose.

More About the Story

Skills

vocabulary, author’s craft, cause and effect, supporting details, key idea, inference, analyzing, evaluating, explanatory and opinion writing

Complexity Factors

Purpose

The first text explains the role of flavorists and food companies in creating delicious food; it also challenges the reader to consider whose interests are served by making hard-to-resist snacks. The second text tells the possible origin of potato chips and reinforces some of the first text’s information about food research.  

Structure

Both articles are mainly informational. The second article starts with a narrative passage and requires some inferences.

Language

The articles have a good deal of descriptive language. The first article sometimes uses the first-person plural to include the reader in its discussion. It also includes some challenging domain-specific vocabulary (e.g. synthetic, preservatives) and rhetorical questions. 

Knowledge Demands 

The texts mention the chemicals, chipotle peppers, acai berries, and early human ancestors.

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

1. Preparing to Read

Engage Students, Preview Text Features, and Introduce Vocabulary

  • Engage students with the topic of the articles by inviting them to describe the perfect snack, using the five senses. They can do this as a virtual or socially distanced pair-share by writing their ideas on a shared document or slide.
  • Draw students’ attention to the headline of the first article. Ask: Why might chips be too delicious? Ask students to look at the sidebar and the second article, then predict what they will learn from the paired texts.
  • The highlighted vocabulary words relate in some way to producing or eating food. Introduce these words with the Vocabulary Skill Builder (available in your Resources tab). Highlighted words: concocting, synthetic, preservatives, tangy, zesty, edible, obesity, crave, nutritious

2. Reading and Discussing

  • Have students prepare for discussion by reading the article first. They can read the on-level or lower-Lexile version, or listen to the Author Read-Aloud (available in your Resources tab) of either level.
  • Ask students to discuss the close-reading questions in small groups in your classroom or in virtual breakout rooms.
  • Come together as a class to discuss the critical-thinking questions.

“Are These Chips Too Delicious?”

Close-Reading Questions

  • Reread the first paragraph of the article. How does author Lauren Tarshis draw you into the story? What surprises you about what she reveals? (author’s craft) Tarshis starts the article by describing a secret and valuable project that scientists are working on. This makes you wonder what they are creating. Students will likely say they are surprised at how much research and how many products go into making food flavors. They might be surprised to learn that the job of food flavorist exists.
  • Based on the section “From Fresh to Tasteless,” how did food start to change in the 1940s? What did food flavorists do as a result? (cause and effect) By the 1940s, food companies started adding preservatives to food so it would last longer as it was shipped across the country and sat on shelves. But this processed food wasn’t as tasty as fresh food. So food flavorists tried to make it taste better. 
  • In the section “Slimy Pink Blob,” what are three details you learn about how you taste food? (supporting details) Answers may include that you have 10,000 taste buds on your tongue and the inside of your cheeks; the tongue can taste five different flavors; the sense of smell is also necessary to be able to taste food.
  • Based on “Burst of Flavor,” how do food companies figure out what makes people more likely to buy their food? (key idea) Food companies do a great deal of research to find out exactly what flavors and textures people like. They study people’s diets and habits. They learn everything from how crunchy chips should be to how much glaze should be on a doughnut. 
  • What does the author mean when she says that food companies “know how to make food taste great—maybe too great”? (inference) She means that the companies make food taste so good that people eat too much of it, leading to health problems.

"Love at First Crunch"

  • Serendipity means discovering or inventing something without meaning to. How is the story or George Crum’s invention of potato chips an example of serendipity? (analyzing) George Crum did not set out to invent a new food. He actually meant to cook potatoes in a way that would taste terrible, to teach a picky customer a lesson. But the thin, crispy potatoes turned out to be delicious. So Crum’s new dish was created by serendipity.
  • What details in “Crunch Craving” help you understand why crunchy potato chips are a popular snack? (supporting details) This section explains that people naturally crave crunchy food. It was a sign to early humans that the food was fresh. Today, researchers have found the exact amount of pressure and noise people tend to like in a crunch. With this information, potato chip companies can make chips that will be popular with customers.

Critical-Thinking Question

  • Both articles explain the great amount of research and testing that goes into creating tasty, irresistible snacks. Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing, or some of each? Explain your answer. (synthesizing/analyzing) Answers will vary. Students may say that it’s good that companies create delicious food. After all, everyone prefers snacks that taste just right. Putting a lot of effort into creating tasty treats ends up giving us better options. Others may say that the efforts food companies make don’t have the customers’ best interest in mind. Instead, they want to make as much money as possible by making snacks that people can’t stop eating. Often the ingredients that make snacks delicious, like sugar, fat, and salt, also make them unhealthy. 

3. SEL Focus

Responsible Decision-Making

Point out that in the first article, the author suggests that food companies might ask “Isn’t it up to us to know when we’ve had enough?” Ask students: What do you think? Who is responsible if we end up eating too many chips? Has reading these articles changed the way you think about snacking and when it’s time to stop? Answers will vary. Students might say they have a better understanding of what companies do to try to make them eat more chips or other foods. They might find this new knowledge empowering; knowing how food companies try to get people to eat more might make students realize they have the power to resist that temptation.

4. Skill Building and Writing

Featured Skill: Synthesizing

  • Distribute or digitally assign the Synthesizing Skill Builder (available in your Resources tab). Our new Skill Builder slide decks will walk students through learning the skill and make teaching easier if students are working asynchronously or independently. The Skill Builder leads them to respond to the writing prompt at the end of the articles.

Great Ideas for Remote Learning

  • Create a slide deck with a slide for each student. Ask students to complete their own slide with a picture and description of their favorite snack. Have them add what they think is a healthy portion of the snack. You can suggest that they look at the nutrition facts if the snack comes in a package. You might add a few of your own slides with suggestions of healthy snacks.
  • Use our Choice Board (available in your Resources tab) for engaging, self-directed learning. Activities vary in difficulty level, so each student can choose a task they feel confident in completing.

Differentiate and Customize
For Struggling Readers

Have students read the lower-Lexile version of the articles. Work with them in a small group to complete a Venn diagram, picking out facts that are similar and different in each article.

For Advanced Readers

Have students examine the tone of the first article. Explain that tone is the author’s feeling or attitude about the topic. Guide them with these questions: 1. Does the author seem to think food companies care about people’s health? Explain. 2. What details does the author include that suggest companies might be sneaky in the way they create food flavors? 3. What do you think the last four paragraphs suggest about food flavoring? Remote learning tip: Post these questions on a shared document to create a conversation among students and yourself. 

For ELL Students

Hold a discussion about the difference between snacks eaten here and snacks from students’ home countries. (If students have mainly grown up in the United States, you might prompt them to ask their parents or grandparents about snacks from their countries.) Invite them to share with the class what some of their favorites are. 

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