I understand about the research, and the manipulation. I am just bewildered that intelligent adults (not talking about children here) are so seduced by sub standard food.
As well as having had an old fashioned mother, I suppose I need to be grateful that I was very sensitive to salty tastes when I was younger, so chips and popcorn, (and even bacon!) didn't appeal to me much. And, at the tender age of 12, I embarked on a bet with myself to eliminate added sugars in my food (I was attending Irish boarding school at the time, and the food was dismal; adding sugar made it edible, but I wanted to see if I could get by for a month without doing so). So, not low carbing, not even being really aware of the health consequences, just 12 year old stubbornness. I did it; it was horrible, but I did it. At the end of the month I almost made myself vomit with the sugar I poured onto everything, and have never been particularly fond of sweet things since. Both those facts - not liking salt or sweet much - appear to have saved me from bad consequences, as I really like to eat, and it was necessary to learn how to cook good food to my own taste if I wanted to do so.