Bad Foods

Bad Foods demonstrates how a variety of historical or political events and personalities have shaped our current views of good nutrition. On several occasions in American history concerns have arisen over the safety of our food supply (e.g., harmful ingredients in processed foods) and the potential that processing might deplete foods of their nutrients. These concerns help explain how food characteristics such as freshness, natural, organic, and unprocessed have become important to Americans.

Bad Foods traces how the food nutrients fat, salt, and sugar have acquired negative reputations for health as well as any controversies and outright misconceptions of the dangers of these nutrients. Bad Foods also explores confusion that can in part be attributed to biased media coverage about foods. Modern Americans are routinely bombarded with information about the health value of certain foods and the dangers of others. Frequently, health information about certain nutrients receives exaggerated coverage (e.g., dietary fat) while the importance of other nutrients gets ignored (e.g., vitamins and minerals). Moreover, health information about foods is often perceived as contradictory.

While some readers may be startled by what they perceive to be a challenge to sacred beliefs about foods, others will see the honesty in both the research and the writing and recognize the social benefits of examining our beliefs about foods. Bad Foods will be of interest to sociologists, food science specialists, and social historians.

"This expanded discussion of [Oakes'] findings takes readers first through a whirlwind tour of U.S. food historyand later through aconsideration of the scientific literature relating to three of bad foods'-fat, salt, and sugar. General readers will find it usefulfor ongoing debates. Recommended."-Choice

Michael E. Oakes received his Ph.D. in psychology from Northern Illinois University in 1994. Over the past ten years he has taught a variety of university-level courses including Drugs and Behavior and Behavioral Neuroscience. He has authored a dozen publications most of which explore the psychology of food and nutrition.