Salt Sugar Fat

How the Food Giants Hooked Us

By: Michael Moss

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Atlantic • The Huffington Post • Men’s Journal • MSN (U.K.) • Kirkus Reviews • Publishers Weekly

NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • WINNER OF THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD FOR WRITING AND LITERATURE

From a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at The New York Times comes the explosive story of the rise of the processed food industry and its link to the emerging obesity epidemic. Michael Moss reveals how companies use salt, sugar, and fat to addict us and, more important, how we can fight back.

In the spring of 1999, the heads of the world’s largest processed food companies gathered at Pillsbury headquarters in Minneapolis for a secret meeting. On the agenda: the emerging epidemic of obesity, and what to do about it.

Increasingly, the salt-, sugar-, and fat-laden foods these companies produced were being linked to obesity, and a concerned Kraft executive took the stage to issue a warning: There would be a day of reckoning unless changes were made. When he was done, the most powerful person in the room - the CEO of General Mills - stood up to speak, clearly annoyed. And by the time he sat down, the meeting was over.

In Salt Sugar Fat, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Michael Moss shows how we got here. Featuring examples from some of the most recognizable (and profitable) companies and brands of the last half century - including Kraft, Coca-Cola, Lunchables, Kellogg, Nestlé, Oreos, Cargill, Capri Sun, and many more - Moss’ explosive, empowering narrative is grounded in meticulous, often eye-opening research.

Includes a bonus PDF with endnotes from the book

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2013 Michael Moss (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"What happens when one of the country’s great investigative reporters infiltrates the most disastrous cartel of modern times: a processed food industry that’s making a fortune by slowly poisoning an unwitting population? You get this terrific, powerfully written book, jammed with startling disclosures, jaw-dropping confessions and, importantly, the charting of a path to a better, healthier future. This book should be read by anyone who tears a shiny wrapper and opens wide. That’s all of us." (Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President)

"In this meticulously researched book, Michael Moss tells the chilling story of how the food giants have seduced everyone in this country. He understands a vital and terrifying truth: that we are not just eating fast food when we succumb to the siren song of sugar, fat, and salt. We are fundamentally changing our lives - and the world around us.” (Alice Waters)

How good processors have manipulated our food using salt sugar and fat to cause an obesity epidemic.

Knowing the science behind processed food is interesting and knowing that the decisions made to manipulate was knowingly done to increase profits is scary

This is all too real, and YOU are the victim.

There are times when you listen to horror audiobooks for sheer listening enjoyment.

In this case, it's all too real, and you are the victim.

Moss is, essentially, an industry whistleblower. A food industry whistleblower, to be precise. And what he reveals is something many of us suspected, but is no less dramatically disturbing.

Basically the food industry is creating and adding extremely addictive chemicals to processed foods of all types, with the single intent to get you to buy more, eat more, and repeat ad nauseum. Salt, sugar and fat additives are manipulated at the molecular level to cause the pleasure centers of the consumer's brain (the very same pleasure centers affected by heroin addicts) to dramatically respond to and become addicted to the taste of the grocery store foods you eat, causing you to again, buy more, eat more, thus fattening yourself as well the food industry's (and the health insurance industry's) sizable wallets.

These additives are now causing a generation of pre-teen illnesses once only seen in the very elderly, and causing the soon to retire baby boomers to face illnesses that don't have to be endured.

We have placed our trust in the food industry, quickly swallowing, literally, what we're told. It's time to wake up, to realize that trust has been nightmarishly broken, and our very health and lives are in danger. And the food industry couldn't care less.

These reveals aren't speculation, but facts backed up by insider company documentation, with more discovered on a daily basis. The sheer amount of proven conclusions are stunning, and the result is a national disaster. Moss was recently on the Oz show, among others, and is spreading the word. It's sobering, and it's scary, to state it plainly.

I can speak solidly on this audiobook's conclusions, having once weighed 390 pounds and endured a horrible physical lifestyle. I began to do the research, and discovered much speculation regarding what Moss has now proven to be fact. It disturbed me so much, that it changed my life, and I went on a strict program of healthier foods, additional water intake, and walking daily. As the processed foods remains washed out of my body, I began to lose a dramatic amount of weight, my health returned, and I felt better than I had in a very long time. I've kept the weight off, and enjoy my life immensely. I'm living proof that these processed foods can damage you, and that it's not too late to change.

Dear Audible listener, note the star rating I've given this book. VERY FEW of my reviews garnish such a positive recommendation. I cannot help by make this my most highly recommended listen thus far for 2013. And when you listen, I'm confident that you'll agree.

I appreciate that you've taken the time to read this review. Now, take the time to learn the truth about what you eat, and what it's doing to you.

Stop being the victim.

Excellent but narrator over the top

What made the experience of listening to Salt Sugar Fat the most enjoyable?

Facinating

Would you be willing to try another one of Scott Brick’s performances?

One of the best narrators forgets that over dramatizing makes the book hard to listen to. Let the words speak for themselves.

The Kind of Writing I Wish For

Salt Sugar Fat is almost unthinkable. Not just in its content, in the unimaginable marketing strategies, innumerable addatives with powerful addicting properties, deceptive tactics, and blatant disregard for consumer health described in this book; not just in the sheer timeline and product scope of the reporting; not just in the reasoned approached the author takes to the shocking evidence uncovered; but also in Michael Moss's skill at investigative reporting and his ability to uncover the full strategies and willful ignorance that defines the mega food corporations.

Divided into three sections (Sugar, Fat, and then Salt) he takes us through the history of products that rely on these ingredients to hook, keep, and addict us. It is a stunning work of reporting in detail and scale. More impressive, is Moss's ability to remain dispassionate and intellectual as the book picks up steam. It is non-fiction, but I tore through this book with the same speed as I do a skillful thriller. This book is as addictive as the products it discusses. You will learn the unending reliance the food conglomerates have on sugar, salt, and fat and what this reliance has done to our collective health. Bringing all this wonderful writing to you is Scott Brick, possibly the best reader in the Audible catalogue.

This book makes my list of the best books I've read this year. It'll make yours too.

Not a feelgood book

‘Salt, Sugar, Fat' is a depressing expose of the processed food industry. It’s a fairly detailed analysis of how the industry has crammed more and more of these three ingredients into food, and the resulting havoc wrought on the health of Americans. Dramatically increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke have arisen as the population has become increasingly dependent on fast, cheap, convenient, tasty food and drink containing frightening amounts of these eponymous ingredients, as well as a whole load of other chemicals to flavour, colour and preserve the food and increase its shelf-life. The same problem has now been inflicted on other, poorer, nations, such as Mexico as the corporate giants have colonised other markets in their relentless pursuit of greater profits.

Over time, some sections of the public have become more aware of the health hazards associated with these foods, but it hasn’t really reduced the scale of the problem. Attempts to introduce government regulation in the US have largely been scuppered by the lobbyists representing the powerful food and agriculture industries. There has been some effort on the part of the food corporations to reduce the quantities of salt, sugar and fat in their products, but these reductions have been fairly minor, token cuts and haven’t reduced the scale of the problem. Many people have cravings for these powerfully tempting products and can’t cut back effectively, and often don’t have the time, awareness or motivation to make radical changes to their lifestyles. Advertising and marketing campaigns are cleverly designed to make processed food seem irresistible, and of course advertisers are more likely to emphasize health benefits than to warn of the dangers of eating these products.

The World has surely got itself into a sorry mess when people are encouraged to oversize their drink portions so that they are ingesting 44 teaspoons of sugar in their giant cup of fizzy soda, while people in other countries starve to death in droves. The companies defend themselves by saying that no one is being forced to consume their products. It’s a free market and they are only selling what people want. But surely, for the sake of the health of everyone, there should be a massive education campaign telling people how they are potentially harming themselves by eating fast food. There should be limits on the amounts of salt, sugar and fat that can be included in processed foods, as there are in other countries. Surely enough is enough?

I don't even know where to start

Any additional comments?

Well, that's not entirely true. I should start by saying that I don't read many non-fiction or health books. However, I saw the author on Jon Stewart or Colbert a few weeks ago and then I saw the book was selling well on Audible so I figures I'd give it a shot. To my surprise I found myself engaged and invested in the book, from examples of corporate greed to studies on human nature. The writing is phenomenal and comes at you like the good, hard-hitting journalism that it is. My initial criticism was the repetition of certain key words and phrases, however I came to feel that this served to hammer home points and familiarize the reader with certain industry vocabulary. I also developed a new way of looking at the nutrition information and ingredient list on my food. The narration keeps pace with the writing without sounding flat, and that is all you can really ask of a book like this. 5 stars does this book justice, it is not an inflated score. I would rank Salt, Sugar, Fat as one of my top books of 2013 without hesitation.

What a Reality

I no longer consider myself innocent. As a health care professional, I considered my food choices and felt I was being cautious where I needed to be. What I did not know was how we have been manipulated in our choices. I have felt the frustration that I want to make my meals from scratch (a true child of the 50's) and have found it more difficult to do that over the years. Now I know why.

So now as I battle my own obesity and Type 2 diabetes, I have a better understanding of what not to buy and why. Thank you, Michael Moss.

Now truth be told, I love a good suspense tale. And Scott Brick is the best narrator for that genre. But I am not convinced he was the best choice for this book. He did read like it was a huge conspiracy (which it is) but it became a bit much. I got through it and still admire his talent, but ...

entertaining and enlightening

entertaining and enlightening. and sad to see how we are treated and thought of as cash cows

One of the best books I've ever red-eye opening

This was a real eye-opening book. Even companies that wanted to give us healthier options abandoned their efforts when we didn't buy them. They sell us what we want. The problem lies in what we say we want and what we, as consumers, actually purchase. We're making ourselves sick and fat. A must read/listen. Scott Brick was a wonderful narrator.

You'll never look at a box of cereal the same again.

The information in the book is either stuff you've heard about or stuff you know. What will surprise you is the lengths that big food goes to in order to secure their profits.