Food addiction is based on the fact that similar behaviors are found and identical neurological pathways are activated in both food intake and psychoactive substance use. Food addiction could explain the difficulties with the control of food consumption, failures in attempts to reduce food intake and the inability to abstain or reduce specific type of food. Excessive sugar, fat or salt content in processed food could be significant components of food addiction due to the activation of the reward circuit in the same way as by other psychoative substances. The prevalence and the role of food addiction in obesity remain unclear and need to be evaluated.