Eat, Drink, and Be Wary

January 26, 2015
Veteran journalist Duncan demonstrates that fears about food safety in the U.S. are not unfounded. Bit by bit, he examines âour enormous food safety problems,â the reasons why the government has failed to protect consumers, and the consequences of such lax oversight. Contamination can affect every âphase of our food chain, from the wheat and corn fields, grazing cattle, slaughterhouses, egg farms, and dairies to our oceans and bays.â Meanwhile, global imports generally do not receive proper or sufficient inspection, either. The FDA, for example, inspects less than two percent of foods shipped from China (and more than half of Chinese food processing and packaging firms fail that countryâs own safety inspections). Chapters on items such as produce, poultry, and eggs highlight similar themes. According to Duncan, the American government drags its feet and has kept secret public information about enforcement, closures, and seizures of food processors, protecting big businesses at the publicâs expense. Subsequent discussions on milk, seafood, and processed meats strike cautionary tones as well. Though not the most optimisticâor appetizingâvolume on modern-day food production, Duncanâs work is comprehensive and readers concerned with the safety and reliability of their foods will appreciate his efforts.

February 1, 2015
A much-awarded print and TV journalist takes the U.S. food industry to task. Even the statistics he presents alone will alarm. Every year, 3,000 Americans die and 48 million are sickened by food-borne illnesses. Of the 91 percent of seafood the U.S. imports, only 2 percent is inspected. And on and on. Duncan cites many books, chapters, and verses on every aspect of the food industry, from the possibility of bioterrorism through our food supply and the dangers of delicatessens to GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and restaurant food. Although not collected in any one chapter, his advice proves valuable: eat only prepackaged deli foods; don't drink raw, unpasteurized milk; and select fish with low to moderate mercury. Who has weakened U.S. food chains? The government (USDA and FDA are the largest agencies), which writes laws to favor industry, not the public, and the D.C. bureaucrats who defund and strip food-safety programs to bare bones. In Duncan's epilogue, readers will see him preparing for his next documentary foray, against sugar. Extraordinarily well researchedand scary.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)