The New York Times investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Moss discusses his new book, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us (Signal, 2013), with Joseph Planta.

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss (Signal, 2013). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Salt Sugar Fat

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver at TheCommentary.ca.

There’s a new book out that’s creating a lot of discussion and necessary debate in the United States and now here in Canada. The New York Times investigative reporter who’s uncovered all of the shocking secrets of the processed food manufacturing industry joins me now to talk about his new book, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Michael Moss goes into the secretive world of food manufacturing and uncovers how the three essential ingredients of fat, salt and sugar have been utilised and refined to get us to consume more junk. Most of us are guilty of this indulging in processed food, the proof is in the waistlines across the continent, and the profits that manufacturers are making. The book sometimes reads as a novel, as Mr. Moss goes behind the scenes, uses his prodigious investigative skills, as well looks at the science that’s been done. For example, sugar and salt have been tinkered with to the point that it hits the consumer hard from our taste buds to our brains where we react wanting more. I’ll get Mr. Moss to tell us about this book, the work he did in uncovering all of this, and the reaction thus far. The book was serialised in the New York Times Magazine a couple of weekends ago. Michael Moss received the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2010, and was twice a finalist in 1999 and 2006. Before joining the New York Times, he was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is the recipient of the Loeb Award and an Overseas Press Club citation. He joins me from Toronto this morning. www.michaelmossbooks.com is the website for more. The book is published by Signal, which is an imprint of McClelland and Stewart. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Michael Moss; Good morning, Mr. Moss.

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