Part II of my review of this book covers the section on fat. The section on fat was a bit shorter than the dedicated pages to sugar which I reviewed in part I. In addition to duration I also found the section on fat to be more interesting and engaging. Some of this may stem from prior knowledge on the sugar section or my greater likelihood of consuming fatty foods versus sugary foods. The section on fat was engaging mostly because of how ingrained it is in our diets and how difficult it is to find alternatives. The government also has a degree of culpability in this problem as well so the blame does not entirely fall on the food industry as it did in part I.
Much like the first part, the section on fat focuses on industry stories and the history of certain products. Featured in this section are Kraft Cheese, Oscar Mayer and Luncheables, Oreos, red meat and pizza. The section opens with the story of Kraft American cheese and experimentation and process for the creation of the original processed cheese. The details highlight the backlash at the time but also the innovation that this cheese was able to create for storage and transportation. One major issue of the processed cheese is a higher sodium content making it less healthy. Where cheese comes into the story is in the 1980’s during the Ronald Reagan presidency. Long story short, the government for decades subsidized the dairy industry to mass produce milk and cheese. Dairy was viewed as a dietary necessity to help children grow strong and well nourished and the government assisted the industry with funds to create an abundance of milk. In addition to funding, technical innovations led to cows producing even greater quantities of milk leading to a storage issues. Reagan attempting to cut down on wasteful spending sought to lower the national cost of storing all of the milk and cheese, much of it spoiled. A government act, the Cheese and Tobacco Adjustment Act, led to the food industry pushing cheese as a way to lessen the government inventory on excess dairy. The pivot worked and Americans went from eating on average seventeen pounds of cheese in the early 1970’s to thirty three pounds annually by the end of the century. Processed cheese containing higher sodium and fat contents were slowly put into all facets of fast food and microwavable frozen foods at the grocery store. This led to added fat, often saturated, in our diets leading to an explosion in weight gain.
The science and studies in this book are very interesting. Fat has a higher bliss point than sugar allowing eaters to consume much more fat prior to feeling satiated. Also, hidden fats lead to consumers eating more fat when it is covered by bread, say a calzone for example with processed meat and cheese in the middle unseen from the wall of bread. If the person does not see the fat in the food their brain does not stop them from eating more. Red meat and cheese were two leading drivers of fat consumption with pizza being the leading vehicle for cheese. This trend led to the federal government making daily recommendations on saturated fat consumption but they were mild in comparison to the average American’s diet. This is likely due to the interest in seeing the dairy industries growth. Despite knowing cheese was driving fat consumption the federal government recommended more cheese consumption when recreating the food pyramid recommendations for Americans.
The dangers of meats was another interesting section in this part of the book. According to some scientists red meat should be limited to one serving per week, impossible to fathom for most. Processed meats like bacon or sausage are advised to be avoided all together, I know that is sacrilege for most. In 2010 the USDA recommended low fat dairy and red meat for diets but this does not meet the reality of the market. There aren’t many low fat cheeses or ice creams because they normally taste horrible and no one buys them so they are not prevalent money makers for the industry. Red meat only gets down to 5% fat content but for meat to be classified it has to be 3% making the USDA recommendation impossible. The packaging is also deceiving showing ground beef as 70% lean which is still incredibly fatty. There was discussion of the controversy of studies showing processed meats being linked to cancer. I personally remember this story from the 2010’s and it seemed to come and go. The industry through everything they had at it with lawyers and it exposed the interesting dichotomy of lawyers versus scientists. Scientists are the experts but lawyers are the better speakers and arguers for lack of a better term. Despite evidence being there the industry survived with misleading studies and rhetoric not very different from what the cigarette companies did for decades.
I found this section very thought provoking in many ways. An under looked conversation was made regarding packaging and labelling. As the public got wiser to what was in their food the industry maneuvered to stay ahead of the attempting to be health conscious public. What is a serving size? Bags and containers of chips and snacks listed calories, fat and sugar for a serving rather than the whole container. People don’t typically measure out a serving and often eat the whole bag thus possibly consuming hundreds of calories quickly without knowing it. The industry makes the personal responsibility argument but how can someone be personally responsible when the food is made to be addicting. They tried to curb this with one hundred calorie pack oreos and other cookies but most people opened another bag. Another thought provoking section was the industry claiming jobs. It is the all American chest beating about job creation that tries to make something immune from criticism. If people eat healthy what happens to all those workers, I don’t think that is a great argument when put under much scrutiny. Personally, a lot of this resonated in a way that the documentary the Social Dilemma focused on, can someone have self control when the product is designed through focus groups, marketing and chemistry labs to be addictive. Can you use fentanyl responsibly? How about heroin?
So where do I stand as the author of this review? I have what I think is a fairly flexible opinion on obesity and diets. I do not think the government should tell people what they can and cannot eat. However, I do not think they should encourage poor choices through misleading the public. I believe food labels should be more honest and as honest as they can possibly be. I believe advertising should be curtailed and school lunches should be made healthier. I believe this also shows a limit on for profit industry. It is not in the public’s interest to eat this shit but they gotta make a buck. All of that said, people know what is good for them. We know fruit is good and a double bacon cheese burger is bad. We’ve known for decades smoking is horrible, people still do it. In conclusion, people should know what goes in their bodies, not mindlessly eat, shop the perimeter of the store and exercise. Its a lot harder than it sounds.
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