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)

Corporate Treachery

Michael Moss's landmark treatise on the manipulation of consumer taste buds exposes the sordid underbelly of the giants of the prepared food industry. The essence of this book is unforgettable: profit at all costs, the health of the public be damned.

great info, nice insider information

great advice, excellent insights into the industry. obesity in this country is clarified. a must read for nutrition

Must read.

If you live and eat, read this book. So well documented, It may change your life.

Scott Brick is excellent!

I read some poor reviews about Scott Brick. I agree he is an excellent narrator for narrative pieces, but some listeners said he was too dramatic or not appropriate for this type of book. I disagree. I think he was excellent. Michael Moss did his homework and every bit of this book was absolutely informative, inspirational and specific. I enjoyed and appreciated every minute.

A shield of knowledge

Thanks to healthy parents and my own hobbies necessitating healthy choices, my diet has been decent for most of my life. And yet… after listening to this book, I have come to realize even I have been duped, on so many levels. I think a lot of us millennials generally know that often what we buy and eat is not the best for us. But with only general understanding, it is so easy to find excuses and make occasional exceptions. I now know clearly that covertly controlling and encouraging these exceptions at a level just below our awareness is factor in their marketing along with everything else overt. This book brings the history and modern tactics of the food giants of the world into full view and understanding for the average earthling. Only we can wield our swords to fight off the enemy, but we need our shields to block the blows until we can draw them. This book is your shield.

Eye opening

I shouldn't be surprised at how manipulated our food supply is.. but wow - I really was.

Narrator definitely over the top

Would you listen to Salt Sugar Fat again? Why?

No-I would read it. The narrator makes every sentence a life and death affair.

What three words best describe Scott Brick’s performance?

Over the TOP.

Any additional comments?

As a previous reviewer said, as important a topic as this is, it was a shame that it was so hard to listen to.

Interesting and worrisome

This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about their health...or the health of their friends, family, children. It is a look into the food industry and what has happened to our food supply. Why our food is over-processed, toxic, and addictive. And what we must do to change our lives and our food...before it is irreversible. Processed food is, by its very nature, always going to be an unhealthy alternative (for example...without mass quantities of added salt, most canned foods tastes awful...Cheezits taste like cardboard...the taste and texture of cold cuts is compromised). Scott Brick is, as always, a great narrator. I look for books that he reads, as I always enjoy his voice and his interpretation of the book (both fiction and non-fiction).

Great reporting but…

It actually had the opposite intended effect and caused to me crave these foods more! So sad. Great book and reporting, didn’t tell me anything that I didn’t already know or suspect in the back of my mind. Narration was fine but the tone was overly condescending at times.

Eye opener

This book was very enlightening. I knew the big food companies did this, but not to this extent.