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Other literature type . 2025
License: CC BY
Data sources: ZENODO
ZENODO
Other literature type . 2025
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Other literature type . 2025
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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The Edible Interface: How Mass-Market Foods Became Sophisticated Delivery Systems for Biological Influence

Deconstructing the Multi-Layered Reality of Modern Food Systems
Authors: Peilivanidis, Vladimiros;

The Edible Interface: How Mass-Market Foods Became Sophisticated Delivery Systems for Biological Influence

Abstract

The modern mass-market food product is often perceived as a simple item of convenience, yet it functions as a meticulously engineered delivery system for profound biological influence. This perspective article deconstructs the multi-layered reality of the modern food system, revealing its function as an "edible interface." We first examine the "payload," demonstrating how products are engineered for compulsion using psychophysical concepts like the "bliss point" and "sensory-specific satiety" to create hyperpalatable foods that foster addiction-like consumption patterns. Second, we analyze the "warhead": the hidden neurological cargo of industrial ingredients. Common additives such as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), artificial sweeteners, and novel flavorings are shown to be active biochemical agents capable of altering brain gene expression, disrupting neurotransmitter balance, and modulating mood. Third, we investigate the "infrastructure" that enables this reality, focusing on the U.S. FDA’s "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) loophole, a permissive regulatory architecture built on corporate self-policing and systemic conflicts of interest. Fourth, we explore the economic logic of "surveillance capitalism" applied to the food sector, where consumer data is harvested to create "prediction products" that transform human biology into a tradable asset. Finally, we assess emerging technologies like ingestible sensors and programmable biomaterials, which provide the technical means to create a closed-loop system of biological monitoring and modification. This convergence points toward a future where the line between nutrition and surveillance dissolves, recasting the food product as a bio-digital interface for personalized control.

Keywords

hyperpalatable food, biological computers, consumer choice, determinism, cognitive neuroscience, high-fructose corn syrup, surveillance capitalism, biocapitalism, hfcs, Food Addiction, free will, neuromarketing, ingestible sensors, Cybernetics

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Green