Ever noticed how dopamine seems to kick in the moment you step into certain supermarket aisles, making colorful packets, sugary snacks, and ultra-processed foods almost impossible to ignore, even when they weren’t on your shopping list?
Why ultra-processed foods may be the new retail therapy.
Key points
- The overconsumption of ultra-processed foods impacts many Americans and drives annual spending habits.
- One survey found that roughly 67 percent of Americans use snacks and treats to lift their mood.
- An estimated 49 percent of Americans purchase takeout to comfort themselves.
Many factors contribute to how we spend our money, especially when it comes to our retail habits. Unsurprisingly, there are many categories within retail that we consider when deciding where we will spend our money, including clothes, electronics, health and beauty, entertainment, home improvement, and much more.
CashNetUSA, along with Censuswide, conducted a survey that included 2,000 consumers to explore how emotional spending impacts consumer choices. One area of the survey looked at what Americans purchase to improve their mood. Within this question, one category stuck out: food. The survey found that 67 percent of Americans engage in retail therapy involving snacks and treats as a way to cheer themselves up, estimating roughly $526.04 per year.
The survey also concluded that 49 percent of Americans purchase takeout to comfort themselves, with an approximate cost of $598.45 annually. It may come as a shock that snacks, treats, and takeout have surpassed retail therapy for clothes, shoes, beauty products, and even video games.
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These results prompt a simple but revealing question: Why does food dominate the American shopping cart? The explanation lies in the neuroscience of our brain’s reward system. Our reward system involves interconnected regions of the brain that play a role in regulating pleasure, motivation, and habit formation.
Dopamine plays a central role in how our brain processes reward; it is a neurotransmitter that relays messages between neurons and other cells within the body.
Dopamine is commonly referred to as the “feel-good” neurotransmitter due to its role in activating the brain’s reward system.
Whenever we experience something that brings us joy, such as eating, accomplishing a task or goal, or even spending time with loved ones, our brain releases dopamine, which helps communicate a sense of pleasure and strengthens the contributing behavior.
Conceptualizing how our brain processes reward is essential to understanding why so many Americans spend hundreds of dollars on food in an effort to improve their mood. The “snacks” and “treats” in the survey were likely referring to ultra-processed food items. Although there is no universally accepted definition for the term ultra-processed foods (UPFs), they generally refer to heavily manufactured food products that are primarily made of synthetic ingredients rather than whole foods.
Whenever many individuals experience a stressful or emotional state, they typically don’t reach for a snack of hummus and carrots or a dessert of apples and peanut butter to make them feel better, but why is this?
Whenever we initially try a new food, like strawberries, for the first time, the brain releases dopamine to reinforce the behavior and mark it as favorable. Over time, that dopamine response naturally decreases as we consume more strawberries and the food becomes more familiar. Due to this, our brain is not continually receiving an influx of dopamine whenever we eat familiar, nutritious foods.
When we choose to consume UPFs, they are commonly packed with added sugar, sodium, and saturated fat—ingredients that drive the palatability of food items.
In particular, the high amounts of added sugar and fat contribute to a strong and rapid dopamine surge in the brain each time we consume these foods, creating an intensely pleasurable experience. Food manufacturers are well aware of how highly palatable these food items are, which is why UPFs are laden with added sugar.
The overconsumption of UPFs impacts many Americans and may drive annual spending habits. Our current food system is flooded with UPFs, which can make avoiding them feel impossible. When managing our emotions, finding healthier and more sustainable habits is key.
For example, whenever you have a stressful workday and find yourself reaching for an indulgent treat, it can be beneficial to pause and replace that habit with an alternative behavior, such as going for a walk, reading a book, playing with a pet, or even meditating. Although our food environment is largely dominated by ultra-processed foods, reducing our intake and reshaping our retail habits is possible with awareness and intentionality.
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References
CashNetUSA. Retail Therapy: Why We Shop When We’re Stressed. CashNetUSA website. https://www.cashnetusa.com/blog/retail-therapy/. Published January 2026. Accessed February 23, 2026.
Written by Nicole Avena Ph.D.
Originally Appeared on Psychology Today
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