Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat

This is the story of how corporate interests direct and control university research in nutrition. Nestle documents the influence of commodity groups in directing research aimed at finding the good news about industry’s favorite foods. It’s science with an agenda. As she jokes ; if people are anxious about erectile dysfunction, the scientist can find a berry for that. Her writing is punctuated with short pithy sentences that drive the point home. Remember how Michael Pollon summed up his nutritional advise in just seven words? Her style has a cadence that makes learning smooth. It’s a small thing to suspect media reports touting nutritional benefits are just marketing ploys. It’s more serious when the dependence of university researchers on corporate dollars is well documented by Nestle’s diligent work. A 2016 examination of documents ( provided by other researchers ) from the Sugar Research Foundation gives us a disturbing picture of Harvard’s Fred Stare and his pernicious influence on dietary policy. Sugar is more serious than just empty calories. The obesity epidemic is shortening lives. And, politically, our democracy is at stake. Nestle’s insight into the corruption in science is very disturbing indeed. Corporations run the world. She advises us to recognize the loss of independence for university scientists and believes steps can be taken to reign in excessive corporate control of research. To take control of your health you need to see how the line between science and food marketing has been blurred.

First part destroy nutrition myths, based on investigations supported by food industries. Unfortunately, the second part, regarding interests conflicts in research, turns a bit technical. Anyway, as Miss Marion used to be, this book create consciousness about what we eat.

Nestle (no relation to Nestle’ the brand) is an expert in her field. But warning this book is next level-technical especially in the last chapters.

So far, the book is quite good, as you would expect from marion Nestle. There is a technical problem with the kindle version. The page numbering is very strange. Right now, it's stuck on page 55, even though I've read many pages. It did the same thing for page 20. Eventually, page numbering will jump ahead to the correct number. It does this on two different kindles and the android kindle app.

Not what I was looking for, luckily there were no issues returning it.

Especially if you work in the food and beverage industry.

I found this book to be a repetitive, unnecessarily long exposition on one or two key points about the practices of food companies. Dry to read and seemed more like what should have been a quick essay that got streeeeeetccched into book length. The author certainly seems to have the credentials and experience to address this subject. But I just could not finish

The media could not be loaded.  Deceiving

Excelente lectura para todo aquel profesional que busca entender la influencia de la industria alimentaria en nuestro día a día.

This book should be a reading requirement in middle school health programs. Food companies are just not honest about their product; only out for the buck at the customers health expense, I now read the ingredients on products more closely such as the chicken less strips that have just been introduced- A TOXIC TIME BOMB. Also now take studies with a grain of salt!

Eu já tinha algum conhecimento dos conflitos de interesse das empresas farmacêuticas nas pesquias biomédicas e nas clínicas (no caso nos Estados Unidos), e, sendo também um pesquisador, eu entendo o conflito de prioridades que existe entre a indústria e a comunidade acadêmica, portanto eu imaginava a influência das empresas de alimentos e bebidas nas pesquisas nutricionais. Ainda assim, Unsavory Truth traz uma imagem esclarecedora do quão pervasivo é essa influência, contextualizada frente ao que já sabemos sobre as empresas farmcêuticas. É importante notar, no entanto, que não se trata de uma publicação alarmista sem embasamento, muito menos de um ataque gratuito ao capitalismo. Trata-se de uma tentativa de chamar atenção para a existência de conflitos de interesse em pesquisas financiadas pelas indústrias, dado que existem prioridades distintas, e da necessidade de reconhecer a importância destes conflitos aos se avaliar os resultados de uma dada pesquisa. Dra. Nestle reconhece a dificuldade existente entre aceitar financiamento de indústrias e agir etica e moralmente em relação à Ciência, e oferece alguns exemplos pessoais e possíveis sugestões para que o debate de como lidar adequadamente com tais conflitos de interesse prossiga com o bem-estar do público como objetivo maior.

This book by a very well respected scientist clearly illustrates the way that research that is sponsored by food companies often distorts the results in favour of the nutritional value and safety of their products. It looks back at the similar way that tobacco companies and drug companies did similar things in the past and compares their tactics with what is now happening with research on diet and food.

Interesting book which shows how we and more importantly our health are at the mercy of companies and their profit margins