An A-Z Guide to Food Additives: Never Eat What You Can't Pronounce,   ISBN:9781573244039

Customer Rating: 

Polyvinylpyrrolidone, does anything sound more delicious than that? "An A-Z Guide to Food Additives: Never Eat What You Can't Pronounce" is a guide for readers who want to better understand the long and commonly incomprehensible things that go into today's processed food. Designed to be carried in the back pocket of the health conscious, this dictionary covers each of these chemicals, their alternate names, and more. For anyone concerned about what exactly they are putting in their mouths, "An A-Z Guide to Food Additives" is a handy and solid reference.

Customer Rating: 

Hats off to Minich for creating such a useful, easy to carry tool for the consumer who wants to know exactly what Big Food is shoveling into his/her groceries. I like that Minich takes such a balanced viewpoint, "grading" ingredients from "A+" (may be nutritious) to "F" (avoid). My favorite bit is where she describes the top 12 additives to avoid, and then presents an actual sourdough bread label that has most all of them in it. The food companies will clearly feed us anything we'll buy, without so much as a twinge of conscience. Minich's book is a much needed protective measure.

Customer Rating: 

You've probably suspected that all those unpronounceable ingredients on food labels weren't good for you, but now you can know exactly what they do, and how bad (or good) they are. Deanna Minich is a respected nutritionist, and her approach is both scientific and conservative. She explains what each substance does for the product - coloring, preservative, flavor enhancer, emulsifier, etc. - and then what it does to or for you. She has a useful section on allergies and sensitivities, and what to look out for, as well as a ranking system that tells you what additives are good for you, neutral or should be definitely avoided.

I am definitely of the school that says if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it. It was therefore a surprise to discover that some of the ingredients I had been shunning weren't bad after all. There weren't many in that category, however, so I felt quite vindicated overall.

This little guide is small enough to slip into a pocket or purse so you can take it with you shopping until you learn what to avoid. I think this small volume could pay big dividends for your health.