An accessible and balanced account, Food Politics will forever change the way we respond to food industry marketing practices. By explaining how much the food industry influences government nutrition policies and how cleverly it links its interests to those of nutrition experts, this path-breaking book helps us understand more clearly than ever before what we eat and why.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by Michael Pollan
• Preface to the Tenth Anniversary Edition
• Preface to the First Edition
• Introduction: The Food Industry and “Eat More”
• PART ONE: UNDERMINING DIETARY ADVICE
• 1. From “Eat More” to “Eat Less,” 1900–1990
• 2. Politics versus Science: Opposing the Food Pyramid, 1991–1992
• 3. “Deconstructing” Dietary Advice
• PART TWO: WORKING THE SYSTEM
• 4. Influencing Government: Food Lobbies and Lobbyists
• 5. Co-opting Nutrition Professionals
• 6. Winning Friends, Disarming Critics
• 7. Playing Hardball: Legal and Not
• PART THREE: EXPLOITING KIDS, CORRUPTING SCHOOLS
• 8. Starting Early: Underage Consumers
• 9. Pushing Soft Drinks: “Pouring Rights”
• PART FOUR: DEREGULATING DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
• 10. Science versus Supplements: “A Gulf of Mutual Incomprehension”
• 11. Making Health Claims Legal: The Supplement Industry’s War with the FDA
• 12. Deregulation and Its Consequences
• PART FIVE: INVENTING TECHNO-FOODS
• 13. Go Forth and Fortify
• 14. Beyond Fortification: Making Foods Functional
• 15. Selling the Ultimate Techno-Food: Olestra
• Conclusion: The Politics of Food Choice
• Afterword: Food Politics: Ten Years Later and Beyond
• Appendix: Issues in Nutrition and Nutrition Research
• Notes
• List of Tables
• List of Figures