Prof. Francesco Leri in U of G’s Department of Psychology offered his thoughts to Global News Online about why Canadians continue to eat highly processed food when we know they are bad for us.

The article noted that ultra-processed food is specifically designed to be appealing, which partly explains why we can’t stop eating it. But Leri, who has studied the psychology of hunger and eating habits, said many factors compel us to eat, including our personal preferences, what we are used to and what we have been told to want.

Leri researches food and drugs addiction. He examines the psychological and neuropharmacological mechanisms in the development of addictions to better understand why some people are more at risk of addiction than others.