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36th out of 40 books
—
12 voters
Swindled: From Poison Sweets To Counterfeit Coffee The Dark History Of The Food Cheats
by
Bee Wilson
Bad food has a history. Swindled tells it. Through a fascinating mixture of cultural and scientific history, food politics, and culinary detective work, Bee Wilson uncovers the many ways swindlers have cheapened, falsified, and even poisoned our food throughout history. In the hands of people and corporations who have prized profits above the health of consumers, food and...more
Hardcover, 370 pages
Published
2008
by John Murray Publishers
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Not quite a four-star book, I'm afraid. I really wanted to like this more than I did, and it is hard to figure out why it was not a more enjoyable read.
The problem, I think, is the book tries to be both journalism and scholarship (it's published by a university press), and fails to effectively be either one. I'd have to know more about this topic than I do to understand fully what falls short. On the journalism side, the stories about various food crusaders are, apart from Frederick Accum, just...more
The problem, I think, is the book tries to be both journalism and scholarship (it's published by a university press), and fails to effectively be either one. I'd have to know more about this topic than I do to understand fully what falls short. On the journalism side, the stories about various food crusaders are, apart from Frederick Accum, just...more
oy. i am so behind on these reviews. SO, and it really isn't fair. i get lots of good reviews from the books of others. and in fact, i feel a bit outshined by all the great books that i see others are reading.. and so many too. and such breadth.
so now it is a competition. if i can't keep up, well I will do what I can. plus now i want to read all these books, and where do people get all the time to read! and they all have jobs and lives and ....well it shouldn't be a competition at all, but my wh...more
so now it is a competition. if i can't keep up, well I will do what I can. plus now i want to read all these books, and where do people get all the time to read! and they all have jobs and lives and ....well it shouldn't be a competition at all, but my wh...more
Alum in bread, lead in double gloucester, arsenic in candy, warehouse sweepings in pepper -- these are the adulterants of yesteryear, sneaked into the product by the slimy precursors to today's scientific adulterers. Brit Bee Wilson offers a fresh historical account of the early role of chemists in disclosing the sort of substance abuse practiced for profit in laissez-faire England. Her transnational base of analysis is fascinating as an antidote to the American obsession with FDA and Dept. of A...more
This is a really fun book to read. The tone is engaging and the history is interesting, as well as some of the contemporary food politics.
However, I come away from this book with a somewhat different conclusion than the author. I agree that, while the food supplies in North America and the UK have come a long way in safety and purity, we do have issues that need addressing. To me, these issues (safe and ethical farming, GMOs, pesticide use, labeling of enzymes in food manufacturing) are importan...more
However, I come away from this book with a somewhat different conclusion than the author. I agree that, while the food supplies in North America and the UK have come a long way in safety and purity, we do have issues that need addressing. To me, these issues (safe and ethical farming, GMOs, pesticide use, labeling of enzymes in food manufacturing) are importan...more
Ditto to what the other reviewers have to say about this book. Some of the items that stick in my mind are learning about famine foods that have been created during especially hard times though before people would resort to eating leather, tree bark and twigs. Russian peasants were particularly ingenious manufacturers of famine "breads" featuring "straw, birch and elm bark, buckwheat husks, pigweed, acorns" etc. I also learned of all the ersatz foods popularized in Germany around the First World...more
Bad food has a history. Swindled tells it. Through a fascinating mixture of cultural and scientific history, food politics, and culinary detective work, Bee Wilson uncovers the many ways swindlers have cheapened, falsified, and even poisoned our food throughout history. In the hands of people and corporations who have prized profits above the health of consumers, food and drink have been tampered with in often horrifying ways -- padded, diluted, contaminated, substituted, mislabeled, misnamed, o...more
excellent. just one of the great things to learn from this book: bread used to be simple and pure; wine used to be severely adulterated. that's been switched now: wine is much purer and waht we recognize as bread would confuse the hell out of folks even just a hundred years ago. she charts the change in how/ what foods used to be adulterated to the current landscape of packaged foods etc. with remarkable aplomb. the story of adulteration is a story of the repeated failure of modern politics to v...more
Food fraud has a long, still ongoing history. Bee Wilson tries to cover it, but there's only so much one can do. She ends up mostly covering the 19th and 20th centuries, which is fine by me. There's a lot to talk about here, from the early reformers who discovered that it was impossible to buy actual mustard in London to the modern version of food fraud. Wilson sees the modern tendency to overload everything with artificial flavors as a form of food fraud, and I tend to agree, after reading this...more
From the title of the book I was worried that it would glorify in the gross out factor. Fortunately, it was nothing like that.
This book handles the idea of food tampering since the 1800s through now, from a scientific and historical point of view. The book discusses various methods of food tampering and focuses on how science has made it a race to keep up with dangerous swindles before they affect people. There is also a strong focus on the development of food purity laws, and how both the gove...more
This book handles the idea of food tampering since the 1800s through now, from a scientific and historical point of view. The book discusses various methods of food tampering and focuses on how science has made it a race to keep up with dangerous swindles before they affect people. There is also a strong focus on the development of food purity laws, and how both the gove...more
A superb and thoughtful look at food and how its been treated over the last few centuries. Some of the stories are enough to make your stomach turn, but its illuminating to see who has championed good standards for us and how business and politics can often go hand in hand when it comes to rules and regulations.
Its definitely worth the read to learn to appreciate more about what we should and shouldn't eat and will be advice i will follow!!
Its definitely worth the read to learn to appreciate more about what we should and shouldn't eat and will be advice i will follow!!
Very well-written book. The chapters are clear and easy to follow, reading almost like a story to prevent the "dryness" non-fiction often carries. It gives you a great insight into both modern and historical food adulteration. Not only does it make the reader look carefully at their own diet, but it is also a good resource for food and lifestyles in days gone by.
An interesting overview of an overlooked aspect of modern and historical life. Google-searching aplenty was required for all of the historical adulterants and chemical compounds which were unfamiliar to me.
A relatively quick read. Not too gross/gory as the subject matter permitted, but I was glad about that. I would have liked more on the science than the history, even if it were in an appendix. Oh well, it was still pretty good
Read this book. More than just adulterated food, it's about the human condition and the basics of economy, and what we'll do to each other and ourselves if we think we can get away with it.
Jun 13, 2011
Jessica McReaderpants
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
history,
sciencing-is-good-for-you
Very interesting well written and researched. Wish Mary Roach had written it because this subject would have done well with more humor.On the whole very informative and thought provoking. I now look at my food, baby formula and jam very differently :)
Brilliantly researched and entertaining book about all the crafty ways in which grocers etc poisoned and adulterated food in the past and present in the name of profit.
May 28, 2009
Angela
added it
lots o' fun (sometimes scary) food facts. jenny i think you would like this one!
This was surprisingly fascinating.
Fascinating and especially topical given the recent horsemeat scandal in the UK.
Sep 18, 2011
Indah Threez Lestari
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
in-english,
nonfiction
940th - 2011
An interesting and fairly thorough book about food cheats through history. The author comes to the conclusion that this sort of thing is inevitable, though he is hopeful individuals can be educated to protect themselves at least. I tend to think information could be used more effectively here, but agree education is important too.
This book was dry at times, and a few more in-depth or recent examples might have served better than the broad overview taken. Overall a pretty good book.
This book was dry at times, and a few more in-depth or recent examples might have served better than the broad overview taken. Overall a pretty good book.
So happy to not live in the late 1800s in England
Or New York. Or anywhere, really.
Learned a lot about how food was contaminated to make it look or smell better. Very eye opening.
Or New York. Or anywhere, really.
Learned a lot about how food was contaminated to make it look or smell better. Very eye opening.
I skimmed through some of the belaboured details, but a good backgrounder on the history of food fraud. A bit skimpy with the modern stuff.
As advertised in
The American Scientist
.
A history of food adulteration, the efforts to protect against it, and the rise of food science.
heard author on Marketplace radio show; sounds like an interesting read.
A bit dry in the beginning, but altogether very interesting.
May 18, 2013
Corin
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Emily
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Lara
marked it as to-read
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Very nicely done, Sesana.:)
Jun 05, 2012 09:46am