Salt Sugar Fat is a journey into the highly secretive world of the processed food giants, and the story of how they have deployed these three essential ingredients, over the past five decades, to dominate the North American diet. This is an eye-opening book that demonstrates how the makers of these foods have chosen, time and again, to double down on their efforts to increase consumption and profits, gambling that consumers and regulators would never figure them out. With meticulous original reporting, access to confidential files and memos, and numerous sources from deep inside the industry, it shows how these companies have pushed ahead, despite their own misgivings (never aired publicly). Salt Sugar Fat is the story of how we got here, and it will hold the food giants accountable for the social costs that keep climbing even as some of the industry's own say, "Enough already."
- Details
- Full Record
- Additional Info
Searching for more content…
Searching for more content…9780771057083
Opinion
From the critics
Community Activity
Summary
Add a Summary
AnneDromeda
Apr 28, 2013
Michael Moss’ *Salt Sugar Fat* is a complex, impressive exposé of the ways the processed food industry manipulates the public and government. It is sharp, comprehensive, entertaining, and incredibly thorough.
To make his case about the bewitching power of processed food, Moss breaks the book down into the three titular categories. Each of the three sections contains some shocking new information about the ingredient in question, how we experience it, and how it is used in processed food to produce the coveted “mouthfeel” (industry term) and flavour that will keep “heavy users” (industry term) coming back for more.
Moss is meticulous in backing up his claims with studies and knowledgeable named sources. It’s surprising how many of the industry insiders are willing to be named, and express reservations on the record about their participation in a system that’s led to poor public health and an obesity epidemic.
What makes this book truly remarkable is that Moss has no special bone to pick with processed food, in and of itself. He makes it plain on several occasions that he loves many of the convenient food options on offer, and he sympathises with food industry scientists when they mourn the metallic, chemical taste of their salt-reduced food offerings. Moss’s goal isn’t to take down the industry or ban all these items.
Rather, this book issues a plea for processed food giants to be more transparent about what their foods actually contain and don’t contain. No more inflated health claims for cereals fortified with more sugar than vitamins. No more bullying the USDA into changing their food guides. No more exploiting the addictive properties of their products without regard for the health of their heavy users. *Salt Sugar Fat* is a call to attention for all foodies, and essential reading for fans of Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle.
Comment
Add a Commentbought book myself. other authors refer to this book.
Think this is a dry history of the American processed food industry? Think again; it is an easily readable book, highly illuminating and the science is easily digestable (sorry for the pun). Ever wondered when you take a salty snack they are labelled "bet you cant eat just one"? This book shows how the big food industries got you hooked so that you eat more and buy more. It actually makes fascinating reading- I strongly reccommend it.
Highly recommended.
This was a really in-depth look at America's food industry and everything that happens behind the scenes to get food on the supermarket shelf. I found it fascinating and thought Moss told the information in a easily digestible way.
A horrifying look at the way the industrial food system has steadily shoveled more salt, sugar, and fat into our diets, and the accompanying diminishment in overall public health. It's a long book, but worth a read, as it challenges the convenience mentality that has brought billions in profits to an industry that cares more about the bottom line then their customers' health.
This is why I mostly cook at home, folks.
Planetão, I'd be curious to know your idea of ecrl's "world view." How exactly the reviews here contradict ecrl's world view? Care to share?
ecrl - did you read this book? You don't say so but apparently the reviews you read contradict your world view. Thanks for letting us know.
From the reviews I read below, it seems this book is about "Big Corporations" getting together and planning how to "kill" their customers. Talk about conspiracy theorists! (Now let's sit back and wait for our friend naturalist to show up with some wiki link contradicting my point, lol!)
A bit repetitive, but filled with details about how processed foods have been deliberately manipulated to make them as addictive as possible.
Highly recommend this for anyone who is interested in learning, as the subtitle says, how the food giants hooked us. I will never walk around a grocery store again without looking at all the processed foods and thinking, "Why are you trying to kill me?!" Certainly makes one think about food choices. Interesting to note that food execs at the big companies (Kellogg, Kraft etc) don't eat what their companies produce. They are well aware of what absolute crap (can I say that here?!) their products are. Simply fascinating from cover to cover - heartbreaking in places, too. I was trying to take a small measure of comfort from the fact that it's an American book about the American love of fast foods and convenience foods, but my brother put the kibosh on that by telling me that food processors put extra salt in foods made for Canadians, apparently because we love it?! Hoo boy. Nowhere is safe. Shop the outside aisles at the grocery store, avoid the processed stuff, save yourselves!