Is Our Food Safe? — A Consumer’s Guide to Protecting Your Health and the Environment

The foreword sets out the scale of concern in figures: by the US Centers for Disease Control's estimate at the time, foodborne illness sickened 76 million people a year, hospitalised 325,000 and killed 5,000, while poor diet and inactivity contributed to some 400,000 deaths annually. The authors describe consumers lost among contradictory advice: seafood is nutritious but may drive species to extinction; vegetables grown with few pesticides can still carry bacteria. The book's promise is clear: «we tell you what you should worry about — and what you shouldn't.»

This balanced stance is the book's greatest strength. The authors write openly that at one extreme stands a food industry spending billions to convince us its products are perfectly safe, and at the other activists who paint the world on the brink of epidemic and disaster — while they stand in the middle. They don't push readers to go vegetarian and say that «an occasional stop at a fast-food outlet won't bring down civilisation». On genetically engineered foods their position is measured too: much stronger regulation is needed, but consumers need not avoid these foods.

Chapter one opens with a historical perspective that is very effective. In Civil War-era New York, the city's water reservoir stank of pollution, milk was so contaminated that newspapers accused dairies of murder, and bakers adulterated bread with chalk and pipe clay. Against this backdrop the modern American supermarket is «a marvel of productivity, cleanliness and safety». But there is «the other side of the coin»: monoculture and a tenfold rise in pesticide use, routine antibiotics in factory farms holding tens of thousands of animals and the resulting antibiotic resistance, centralised processing where one sick animal can contaminate an entire batch of ground beef, global trade, and restaurants staffed by low-paid, poorly trained workers.

Chapter five opens with a nice observation about nutrition science: in Woody Allen's «Sleeper», two hundred years in the future, steak and hot fudge have been declared the keys to health — audiences laugh because they believe advice keeps changing. The authors argue that, setting sensational headlines aside, the fundamentals of good nutrition have stayed stable for years. The ten steps are simple and practical: smaller portions, less solid fat, whole grains, plenty of vegetables, less meat, less salt, less sugar, fruit for snacks. For weight loss, the key — whatever the diet — is total calories.

The weaknesses are a matter of time. The figures are dated (in 2011 the CDC lowered its estimate of foodborne illness to 48 million cases a year), and some advice — cutting back on egg yolks, choosing low-fat dairy across the board — was softened in later US dietary guidelines. The text rests entirely on American realities: USDA and FDA rules, American restaurants. Still, it is a good consumer guide that teaches a calm, scientific and balanced approach to food choices.

• A «worry / don't worry» balance on every topic
• Historical examples, statistics and practical advice
• A resource list and extensive notes at the end