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Review
'Meticulously researched and fascinating to read, Swindled is guaranteed to give you food for thought'
(Daily Express )'A wonderully written, thrilling rollercoaster of a book . . . A must-read: loaded with flavour, it is a satisfying rich stew of savoury details and meaty chunks of information - nourishment for the mind'
(Sunday Telegraph )'Riveting . . . If ever a book could convince you that the only food worth eating is that which you have scrupulously shopped for in reputable local shops and cooked yourself from scratch, it is this one'
(Daily Mail )'Bee
'[Bee Wilson's] intellectual rigour and disciplined research skills prove a great match with her seamless and engaging writing - she manages to bring history alive, and leaves you wanting more'
(Time Out )'Gripping reading - don't miss it'
(Sainsbury's Magazine )'Lively and well-argued'
(Sunday Express )'Engrossing'
(Financial Times )'A cautionary tale, it provides ample food for thought'
(Tatler )'Wilson brings a humorous touch to the history of swindlers who have tampered with our food'
(Oxford Times )Product Description
Salmonella . . . toxins . . . additives . . . food scares . . . Have you ever wondered how our food has become so untrustworthy? Have we ever been able to trust what we eat?
Via a fascinating mix of food politics, history and culinary detective work, Bee Wilson uncovers the many methods by which swindlers have tampered with our food throughout history.
From the leaded wine of ancient Rome to the food piracy of the twenty-first century we see the extraordinary ways food has been padded, poisoned, spiked, coloured, substituted, faked and mislabelled everywhere it has been sold.
Bee Wilson reveals the strong historical currents which enable the fraudsters to flourish; the battle of the science of deception against the science of detection; the struggle to establish reliable standards. She also suggests some small ways in which we can all protect ourselves from swindles and learn to trust what we eat again.
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Customer Reviews
The book begins by explaining just how far back the tradition of dodgy food goes - basically right back to medieval times and probably beyond. Sweets coloured with mercury, chicory and barley being sold as 'coffee', gravel and sand being used to fill out bread mixture - ugh!!
I loved the historical bit as it was really interesting, but where the book really hits its stride is the later chapters discussing modern food adulteration - you will find yourself scrutinising labels in the supermarket too. There's also a discussion about 'additives' such as fluoride and vitamins into drinks and food - in the USA it's mandatory to add folic acid to bread. (Folic acid is vital for women as it helps to reduce spinal complications in babies, but a lot of women simply don't get enough in their standard diet).
Anyway, DO buy this book, I guarantee you'll enjoy it!
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