Entertainment

Book Review- “The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor”

Published

10 years ago

January 6, 2016

Salty or sweet?

This time of year, it barely matters; you’ve had your hands in bowlfuls of both in the past few weeks. How could you resist?

The office lunchroom was rarely empty, bakers practiced their hobbies on you, and it all tasted so good. In the new book “The Dorito Effect” by Mark Schatzker, you’ll find out why.

Photo credit – Mark Schatzker

This year, you’ve resolved to lose weight… again. It’s the same resolution you had last year, and for the past five years but for some reason, you just can’t – nor can ninety million of your neighbors. But the fault might not be entirely yours.

Look at cookbooks from the turn of the last century, Schatzker says, and you may notice that people used spices, but not much and not always; in many cases, only salt and pepper were recommended.

The reason was that a recipe’s main ingredient itself was filled with flavor, which isn’t often the case today.

Over the decades, because farms needed to feed more people (and make more money), livestock was genetically made to grow faster.

They range less, too, and since chicken, pigs, and cows are what they eat, our meat is blander than it was even half a century ago; the same goes for many fruits and vegetables.

So it’s not your imagination: food really doesn’t taste the same as it once did.

Then where did the goodness in last night’s dinner come from?

Chances are, says Schatzker, it came from a laboratory.

Beginning with snack food in the 1960s, scientists have understood that you can make almost anything taste like something else – or you can enhance its taste – by adding flavors.

Our palates are hungry for those flavors, which are as addicting as tobacco; in fact, tobacco can be flavored. Schatzker calls it “The Dorito Effect”; it’s “what happens when food gets blander and flavor technology gets better.”

It’s how a corn chip can taste like salad dressing, how many restaurants can offer a large menu and serve it quickly, and it can explain why we eat things that are bad for us.

It also makes nutrition a lie, which “may be the most compelling lie humans have ever told.”

When I first saw the cover of “The Dorito Effect,” I wanted to raid my pantry. Now, after reading the book, I’m not so sure. I’m not sure about anything I eat anymore.

This is the kind of book that makes you call someone up and read passages aloud because it’s so shocking – even though there are parts that you might already know (or sense).

Yes, it’s complicated, but author Mark Schatzker makes it readable through the use of metaphors and food history, and humor that’s wry and sometimes hollow. Still, his final determination to have a meal sans added flavorings can’t be missed.

If you plan on shopping for food at a grocery store this year, you’re going to want to read this book. For foodies, snackers, noshers, or between-meal nibblers, “The Dorito Effect” might be a better treat.

“The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor” by Mark Schatzker, c. 2015, Simon & Schuster, $27.00; 261 pages.

Oakland Post

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Activism

OP-ED: AB 1349 Puts Corporate Power Over Community

Since Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010, ticket prices have jumped more than 150 percent. Activities that once fit a family’s budget now take significant disposable income that most working families simply don’t have. The problem is compounded by a system that has tilted access toward the wealthy and white-collar workers. If you have a fancy credit card, you get “presale access,” and if you work in an office instead of a warehouse, you might be able to wait in an online queue to buy a ticket. Access now means privilege.

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

By Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

As a pastor, I believe in the power that a sense of community can have on improving people’s lives. Live events are one of the few places where people from different backgrounds and ages can share the same space and experience – where construction workers sit next to lawyers at a concert, and teenagers enjoy a basketball game with their grandparents. Yet, over the past decade, I’ve witnessed these experiences – the concerts, games, and cultural events where we gather – become increasingly unaffordable, and it is a shame.

These moments of connection matter as they form part of the fabric that holds communities together. But that fabric is fraying because of Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s unchecked control over access to live events. Unfortunately, AB 1349 would only further entrench their corporate power over our spaces.

Power over live events is concentrated in a single corporate entity, and this regime operates without transparency or accountability – much like a dictator. Ticketmaster controls 80 percent of first-sale tickets and nearly a third of resale tickets, but they still want more. More power, more control for Ticketmaster means higher prices and less access for consumers. It’s the agenda they are pushing nationally, with the help of former Trump political operatives, who are quietly trying to undo the antitrust lawsuit launched against Ticketmaster/Live Nation under President Biden’s DOJ.

That’s why I’m deeply concerned about AB 1349 in its current form. Rather than reining in Ticketmaster’s power, the bill risks strengthening it, aligning with Trump. AB 1349 gives Ticketmaster the ability to control a consumer’s ticket forever by granting Ticketmaster’s regime new powers in state law to prevent consumers from reselling or giving away their tickets. It also creates new pathways for Ticketmaster to discriminate and retaliate against consumers who choose to shop around for the best service and fees on resale platforms that aren’t yet controlled by Ticketmaster. These provisions are anti-consumer and anti-democratic.

California has an opportunity to stand with consumers, to demand transparency, and to restore genuine competition in this industry. But that requires legislation developed with input from the community and faith leaders, not proposals backed by the very company causing the harm.

Will our laws reflect fairness, inclusion, and accountability? Or will we let corporate interests tighten their grip on spaces that should belong to everyone? I, for one, support the former and encourage the California Legislature to reject AB 1349 outright or amend it to remove any provisions that expand Ticketmaster’s control. I also urge community members to contact their representatives and advocate for accessible, inclusive live events for all Californians. Let’s work together to ensure these gathering spaces remain open and welcoming to everyone, regardless of income or background.