Food, glorious food?

In his introduction David Kessler, former head of the US Food and Drug Administration and a paediatrician, interviews people about their eating habits. One said: “If food is put in front of me, I find it an eternal struggle not to eat . . . As soon as I’m not actively doing something, I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat . . . I feel ridiculous. It should not be all-consuming.” It is such behaviour, the lack of control when faced with food, that Kessler explores.

He has some pedigree. Previously he has taken on the tobacco industry, and here he challenges the food industry by exposing how it is driving the obesity epidemic by promoting fatty, salty, and sugary foods in large portions to be eaten at any time of the day. He talks to people within the food industry, including an anonymous insider who reveals the tactics the industry uses to …