salt sugar fat - a review

Salt sugar fat: how the food giants hooked us by Michael Moss
The blurb 'In China, for the first time, people who weigh too much now outnumber those who weigh too little. In Mexico, the Obesity rate has tripled in the past three decades. In the Uk over 60 per cent of adults and 30 per cent of children are overweight, while the United States remains the most obese country in the world. We are hooked on salt, sugar and fat. These three simple ingredients are used by the major food companies to achieve the greatest allure for the lowest possible cost.
Here, Pulitzer prize winning investigative reporter Michael Moss exposes the practices of some of the most recognisable( and profitable) companies and brands of the last half century.
This is an eye opening and explosive journey into the secretive world of the processed food industry that could change the way we eat. for ever. are you ready for the truth about what's in your shopping basket?'

As I've become more interested in changing my diet and lifestyle I've found it interests me more and more to read about what we're really eating. This book truly is an eye opener and I was ready to admit I'm completely aware that processed food is not good food but I don't think I'd realized quite how bad it was.
Just the sheer numbers of companies that are using underhand tactics to reel you in and leave you addicted to one or many of their products and even worse than that is when they purposely market their products as healthy when in reality there's few health benefits to be found.

If you haven't made any changes to your diet or don't plan on doing so in the foreseeable future then this might not be a book you want to read. As it will reveal things you probably don't want to know about the food you are eating. ,Michael moss manages to speak with former employees that were high up in most of the big food companies, people who held a lot of power at one point, and they opened up about what their companies had done, companies such as coca cola or general foods ( they are an umbrella company that manages many big brands of cereals, biscuits, ready meals and so on). They admit that at some point, if not all along these companies became aware of strong causal link between the fattening yet addictively unhealthy food they were producing and the growing obesity epidemic but did little to change it as for the most part it was feared that altering the food would lessen its appeal and effect their profit margins.

Written in a very accessible style and not at all bogged down with jargon, as I'm aware many of these types of books can be, Its a fascinating read for the more health conscious among us and perhaps the much needed scare those still battling a love of processed food could do with reading.