Michael Moss opens Salt, Sugar and Fat with his central investigative finding: major processed food companies have spent decades deliberately engineering products to maximize craving and repeat consumption, using sophisticated food science specifically calibrated for this purpose.

Key elements of his investigation:

• Moss draws on extensive interviews with food industry insiders, scientists, and executives, many speaking candidly about practices rarely discussed publicly
• He documents dedicated research facilities and teams within major food companies focused specifically on optimizing craveability, not nutrition
• The scale of this deliberate engineering — across an entire industry, over decades — is presented as far more systematic and intentional than most consumers realize

This opening establishes the book's core reframe: the difficulty many people experience resisting certain processed foods isn't simply personal weakness or lack of willpower — it's the predictable result of products deliberately engineered by trained scientists to be difficult to resist.