Simon Vance

The prospect of tens of millions of people cutting their caloric intake down to roughly 1,000 per day, which is half the minimum amount recommended for men, is unsettling the industry. Late last year, Lars Frogaard Jürgensen, the chief executive of Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, told Bloomberg that food industry executives have been calling him. They are scared about it, he said.

The prospect of tens of millions of people cutting their caloric intake down to roughly 1,000 per day, which is half the minimum amount recommended for men, is unsettling the industry. Late last year, Lars Frogaard Jürgensen, the chief executive of Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, told Bloomberg that food industry executives have been calling him. They are scared about it, he said.

Around the same time, Walmart's chief executive in the United States, John Ferner, said that customers on GLP-1s were putting less food into their carts. Sales are down in sweet, baked goods and snacks, and the industry is weathering a downturn.

Around the same time, Walmart's chief executive in the United States, John Ferner, said that customers on GLP-1s were putting less food into their carts. Sales are down in sweet, baked goods and snacks, and the industry is weathering a downturn.

By one market research firm's estimate, food and drink innovation in 2024 reached an all-time nadir, with fewer new products coming to market than ever before. Ozempic users like Taylor aren't just eating less, they're eating differently. GLP-1 drugs seem not only to shrink appetite, but to rewrite people's desires.

By one market research firm's estimate, food and drink innovation in 2024 reached an all-time nadir, with fewer new products coming to market than ever before. Ozempic users like Taylor aren't just eating less, they're eating differently. GLP-1 drugs seem not only to shrink appetite, but to rewrite people's desires.

They attack what Amy Bentley, a food historian and professor at New York University, calls the industrial palette. The set of preferences created by acclimatization, often starting with baby food, to the tastes and textures of artificial flavors and preservatives.

They attack what Amy Bentley, a food historian and professor at New York University, calls the industrial palette. The set of preferences created by acclimatization, often starting with baby food, to the tastes and textures of artificial flavors and preservatives.

Patients on GLP-1 drugs have reported losing interest in ultra-processed foods, products that are made with ingredients you wouldn't find in an ordinary kitchen. Colorings, bleaching agents, artificial sweeteners, and modified starches. Some users realize that many packaged snacks they once loved now taste repugnant.

Patients on GLP-1 drugs have reported losing interest in ultra-processed foods, products that are made with ingredients you wouldn't find in an ordinary kitchen. Colorings, bleaching agents, artificial sweeteners, and modified starches. Some users realize that many packaged snacks they once loved now taste repugnant.

Mugovie destroyed my taste buds, a Redditor wrote on a support group, adding, and I love it. The day before I followed Taylor around the supermarket, I sat in on a focus group facilitated by Mattson's Consumer Insights team, listening to people describe how the weight loss drugs have transformed their cravings.

Mugovie destroyed my taste buds, a Redditor wrote on a support group, adding, and I love it. The day before I followed Taylor around the supermarket, I sat in on a focus group facilitated by Mattson's Consumer Insights team, listening to people describe how the weight loss drugs have transformed their cravings.

Larry Wins, a 69-year-old from Pittsburgh, Kansas, who joined via video call, described being emptied of desire for what he used to love. Before Wegovy, said Wins, who is now thirty-five pounds lighter than he was in the spring, his whole life was fast foods. Now, my first place I hit when I get to the store is produce, he said. My favourite is Mount Rainier cherries and apples, peaches, pears.

Larry Wins, a 69-year-old from Pittsburgh, Kansas, who joined via video call, described being emptied of desire for what he used to love. Before Wegovy, said Wins, who is now thirty-five pounds lighter than he was in the spring, his whole life was fast foods. Now, my first place I hit when I get to the store is produce, he said. My favourite is Mount Rainier cherries and apples, peaches, pears.

Most of the other participants felt like that. Almost everyone's cravings for ultra-processed foods had been replaced with a lust for fresh and unpackaged alternatives. A 32-year-old scientist who works in a university chemistry department spoke about discovering, for the first time, the true flavor of food. "'Celery tastes like celery,' she told the group, "'and carrot tastes like carrot.

Most of the other participants felt like that. Almost everyone's cravings for ultra-processed foods had been replaced with a lust for fresh and unpackaged alternatives. A 32-year-old scientist who works in a university chemistry department spoke about discovering, for the first time, the true flavor of food. "'Celery tastes like celery,' she told the group, "'and carrot tastes like carrot.

"'Strawberry tastes like strawberry. "'Since taking Wegovy,' she said, "'I just started to realize that they taste wonderful by themselves.' Kathleen Kenney, a 54-year-old who runs a sword-fighting school in Kansas City, Missouri, said at the focus group that she has always been heavy. "'I was the child of people who lived through the Depression,' she told me later.

"'Strawberry tastes like strawberry. "'Since taking Wegovy,' she said, "'I just started to realize that they taste wonderful by themselves.' Kathleen Kenney, a 54-year-old who runs a sword-fighting school in Kansas City, Missouri, said at the focus group that she has always been heavy. "'I was the child of people who lived through the Depression,' she told me later.

"'A clean-your-plate kind of family. With the help of a sequence of different weight-loss drugs, Kenney has lost more than 100 pounds.' And it has been easy, she said, because the treatments have transformed her experience of flavor and mouthfeel. A ho-ho no longer seems like food. It tastes plasticky, she said, or feels plasticky in my mouth.

"'A clean-your-plate kind of family. With the help of a sequence of different weight-loss drugs, Kenney has lost more than 100 pounds.' And it has been easy, she said, because the treatments have transformed her experience of flavor and mouthfeel. A ho-ho no longer seems like food. It tastes plasticky, she said, or feels plasticky in my mouth.