How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal
Starred review from June 24, 2013
This eye-opening expose of the food industry in America was conceived after Warner, while working as a journalist for The New York Times, made a trip to the supermarket and purchased a rather unhealthy amount of packaged foods in an attempt to see what would happen to them once all the expiry dates came and went. The results, as she states, were rather anti-climactic as she discovered that the foods were pretty much the same. But this left her asking one question: What do expiry dates really mean, and is “food” really food anymore? Narrated by Ann Marie Lee, this absolutely fascinating—and rather infuriating—look at what society is really eating is a must for any responsible adult. Lee’s delivery is simple and understated. She lets the shocking discoveries speak for themselves and her tone mirrors that of the text: she sounds like a concerned citizen who simply wants to know why we are being misled about what we eat. A Scribner hardcover.
February 18, 2013
Warner takes readers on an investigative journey into the history, current practices, and future trends concerning food processing and additives. We meet characters like Harvey Wiley, the "founder of modern food regulation," whose legal briefs helped ban dangerous additives like borax and formaldehyde in the United States, and James Lewis Kraft, whose 1914 processing technique created cheese that could be "kept indefinitely without spoiling." She covers the history of soy, from its early uses as fertilizer and livestock feed to the development of soybean oil for frying food, this despite containing toxic aldehydes that have been linked to serious medical conditions. Warner visits a soy protein plant, describing the processes through which we get our faux meats, before we reach her own refrigerator where she discovers her supermarket guacamole contains amigumâa gelling agent used in cosmeticsâwhich a food scientist theorized was made with an avocado facial mask recipe. Other topics include the origins and effects of synthesized vitamins, shortcomings of the FDA, the manufacturing of artificial flavors, and new innovations in "healthy processed foods." Warner's thought-provoking study does an excellent job presenting the facts without sensationalizing, and offering common sense solutions to those seeking to make better food choices.