Part 3/8:
The fundamental issue lies in how our taste receptors work. Sweetness detection on our tongues is relatively inefficient; for instance, it takes almost a teaspoon of sugar to make a glass of water taste sweet, whereas we can detect bitterness at just parts per million. To compensate, food manufacturers add significant amounts of sugar to products so that the flavor registers strongly enough to satisfy consumers. Astonishingly, about 74% of packaged foods contain added sugars, making it a pervasive component of our diet.