Best Before

History would suggest that the answer to this question is no or do we just need to learn to read the language of our packaging' The food industry has had to adapt to changing consumer needs; and technological advancements, such as fermentation, pasteurization, refrigeration and additives, mean that our supermarket shelves are a far more varied place than they once were. Nowadays we are able to store and preserve food so effectively that we can move it around the world at astonishing rates. We can eat food out of season and remain completely detached from its origins.

But there is a lot going on that you or I have simply no idea about. For example, supermarket mature cheese. Tasty and rich but not so mature. Ageing takes a long time, and a lot of space, and food manufacturers have developed a shortcut. In truth this cheese is probably just a few days old, and has been altered through the application of chemicals to give it the taste, smell and texture of an aged cheese.

This is just one of hundreds of tricks and cheats all legal used by the food industry, ultimately, to save money and drive up profit margins, from fluffy white bread to tomatoes in winter and salty products secretly laced with sugar. Not surprisingly, the industry is not keen for the buying public to be too aware of this.

In No Added Sugar, Nicola Temple builds on the food fraud uncovered by herself and Richard Evershed in her first book, Sorting the Beef from the Bull. Through a combination of personal stories, scientific explanation and historical perspectives she sheds light on shady, but legal, areas of food processing, highlighting how little we know about our food after it leaves the farm. Developments have revolutionised our food industry, but have there been instances where this has gone too far, at a cost to nutritive value, and ultimately, our health'

This book will arm consumers with eye-opening information about their food, enabling them to make better choices and to understand what the language used on our food labels actually means.

About the Author

Nicola Temple is a biologist, conservationist and science writer. Her writing has taken her from the precipices of volcanoes in Ethiopia to the banks of salmon streams in Canada's temperate rainforest. Based in Bristol, Nicola works with universities, research councils and individuals to develop engaging science stories on how research has an impact beyond the closeted world of academia.