‘I can't resist’: Incentive salience for ultra-processed food cues matches erotic cues in individuals with food addiction

Abstract

Environmental cues can guide behavior, which in substance use disorders contributes to maladaptive outcomes. Currently, ultra-processed food (UPF) cues dominate food environments, and growing evidence suggests that their consumption may share characteristics with substance use disorders. The attribution of heightened incentive salience to food cues relative to other highly rewarding stimuli has been linked to food addiction (FA). Here, we investigate whether FA is specifically associated with greater incentive salience for UPF. A remote version of the normative rating procedure for the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) was conducted with 212 Brazilians. The arousal dimension of emotion was used as an index of incentive salience and was assessed through the Self-Assessment Manikin scale. We presented 70 pictures from the IAPS (from various emotion categories, including erotic cues due to their rewarding properties) and an additional set of 11 UPF and 11 unprocessed or minimally processed foods (UMPF) pictures. The modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 was applied to assess FA. Results indicated that both groups of individuals (with and without FA) attributed greater incentive salience to UPF cues than to UMPF cues. However, only individuals with FA attributed similar incentive salience to UPF and erotic cues. These findings highlight the significance of UPF in the development of FA and could support public policies aimed at overcoming the appealing and potentially addictive aspects of UPF.