Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and thought provoking
Review: This book is up there with "Fast Food Nation" as an excellent expose of a business most of us take completely for granted. We all just assume food suppliers care about what we are eating and what they are selling, but - as in any business, most companies are more concerned with profits and dollars than people and health. I love a good Pop Tart now and then, and probably will continue to do so, but after reading this book I will never take advertisements or food promotions for granted. What is particularly impressive is that Ms Nestle does not engage in the usual scare tactics professional nutritionists usually use (I think the previous three reviewers read a completely different book!) Nor does she tell us what to eat or what not to eat - it is NOT a book selling dietary advice - rather she looks at the business of marketing food and finds its practices questionable at best. A balanced "must read" for anyone interested in food or health!
Rating: 
Summary: good but not good enough
Review: This book was interesting but I felt the writing style was not as engaging as other similar types of books. I thought she got bogged down in details without actually making a point. Also, I thought there would be more new information--although I did learn some things, it was not surprising that the food industry lobby groups are shaping our public policy with their check books or that actual nutrition science often comes in second to PR concerns. I thought it was weak in terms of suggesting actual solutions. Also, while I think that she does raise real concerns, it was almost too narrowly focused and didn't really address the wide range of trends that affect how we eat.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful and Surprising
Review: This incisive book revealed a lot of what I expected -- and much of what I didn't! I recommend it highly for people who wonder why the eat and eat and eat -- even when they don't want to. And, why those so-called healthy snacks and foods aren't helping your waistline any.
Rating:
Summary: The truth shall set you free...
Review: This is an engrossing and important book, and the more people who read it, the better Americans' health as a whole will be. People don't understand the enormous power the food industry wields, much like the tobacco industry, and how little accountability it has for the products it sells. The health effects of those products are only beginning to be known, as are the dirty little secrets behind how animals are raised and the antibiotics, hormones and, yes, pesticides that they are treated with. This book goes a long way to diseminating this important information.
Rating: 
Summary: Nestle forgot a not-so-little thing called WILL POWER!
Review: Weak-willed people will love "Food Politics" - shame on them. Marion Nestle, one of the foremost food nannies in this country, has produced a book that heaps the blame for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease on food producers, marketing executives, and even school principals. Everyone, it seems, is responsible for those love handles except for the very people who are carrying them around. In Ms. Nestle's world, there is no willpower, common sense, or personal responsibility. Most overweight people are simply passive "victims" of industry. She writes: "I have become increasingly convinced that many of the nutritional problems of Americans -- not least of them obesity -- can be traced to the food industry's imperative to encourage people to eat more in order to generate sales and increase income in a highly competitive marketplace." Excuse me? Ad campaigns and super-size restaurant specials may "encourage" me to eat but they don't compel me. That's because, like most people, I belong to the "a-little-of-what-you-fancy-does-you-good" school of eating. There is no Orwellian plot to hook us on certain foods and drinks from cradle to nursing home. Ms. Nestle's book reminds me of her real agenda: the promotion of a "fat tax" or "Twinkie tax" on food and drinks, which in moderation and as part of a balanced diet, add fun to everyday life. This policy could actually work against the objectives of the food nannies. The aim would be to discourage consumers from buying certain products, yet this "sin tax" could make the goods more alluring to shoppers who are looking for a little indulgence. Of course, the biggest reason to oppose Ms. Nestle's hidden agenda is that consumers don't need another tax, thank you very much. This nagging book misses the mark. Eat, exercise, be happy.
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