Why Do McDonald's French Fries Taste So Good?

1. The article begins by naming the secret ingredient that made McDonald's french fries taste so good for decades. This ingredient- beef tallow and lots of it. However, once the 90s hit, and people began being more health conscious, McDonald's needed to find a new secret recipe that yielded the same taste. It turns out that the ingredients are just a bunch of chemicals made in a lab. The IFF speicalizes in creating chemicals so that they taste and smell exactly like a strawberry... hamburger... ice cream... body odor... and alas, also french fries. The flavors of our food are simply manipulated molecules.
2. What perspectives are there?
The industry- Grainger, a scientist at IFF, "takes quiet pleasure in seeing the well-known foods that contain his flavors." Just like an artist would be proud of his work, so is the scientist. The company as a whole seems to be very excited about the business, for even if the consumers don't agree with all of the chemicals added, there is nothing they can do about it because these chemicals are key, and will forever be key to so many of the foods in the supermarket or at a restaurant.
The consumers- However, the consumers who are catching on to what "artificial flavors" really are have an opinion that usually includes disgusted, and mad. If a flavor is not derived naturally, the health conscious  consumers are not very interested. They really don't have a choice however.
Mwah- I, like most of the consumers who are now aware of how much science goes into our food, feel a bit disgusted by this. particularly the fact that the pink color of my Dannon yogurt comes from mashed up insects. However, coming from a Biotechnology school, I know that somehow chemicals are added to our food all the time, and that most of the time, they are not harmful. If a certain chemical is derived naturally or synthesized in a lab, it is still that same chemical. And either way, we can all agree that we still enjoy that taste anyway.
3. The main ways of knowing and areas of knowledge that are in this article are perception and our five senses. If a consumer did not realize that the food contained added chemicals, and that really these chemicals are what gave the food the taste, the consumer would enjoy every bite of a McDonald's french fry and probably lick every cm of his greasy fingers afterward. However, if suddenly this knowledge entered his brain, he may scooch the fries over to the other side of the table. Also, if a lab scientist didn't use all the correct dyes when making the very real smelling and tasting chemical, the consumer would pick up on the off color and decide that there is something wrong with the food and not eat it when in fact, it still tastes and smells exactly the same.
4. Some knowledge issues-
The consumers are not allowed to know exactly what chemicals and artificial flavors are added to the food. I, being a vegetarian, can still not know for sure if there is some animal products in a McDonald's french fry. Does the consumer have the right to be informed of what goes into his food? Even so, to what extent will the role of the brain and perception play in determining of a consumer enjoys the food? Once a consumer discovers what's inside, will that change his perception of the taste forever?
5. The big knowledge problem is that the consumers are left not really knowing what is inside the food. The chemicals are a mystery, and the consumer has no choice but to consume them.
6. So in conclusion, to what extent does a consumer's emotion and perception determine the taste of the food?
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