Updated and revised, this edition of the international bestseller is an easy-to-read, pocket-size guide to the additives that color, preserve, and flavor everything you—and your kids and your pets!—eat. It’s comprehensive: including the common name of the additive (e.g. Aluminum ammonium sulfate); its function (stabilizer, buffer); potential effects (“safe at low levels…large doses can cause burning of mouth, throat, stomach, and intestinal tract.”); where it can be found (in baking powder, milling, and cereal production); and—scariest of all—where else this chemical additive can be found (purifying drinking water, fireproofing[!], glue).

With more consumers turning to organic groceries and food prep, there is nothing else out there that addresses additives specifically and exclusively. With food and toy recalls every other week, this is the perfect volume for those wishing to become smarter and safer shoppers.

Includes a glossary, bibliography, online resources, and appendices, as well as sections on cosmetics and genetic modification.

With almost daily reports in the media about the questionable safety of chemicals and additives in food and cosmetics, buying organic is moving from cult status to the mainstream. The proof? Wal-Mart is going “green,” introducing organic foods chainwide. Label reading is way up-but how do you make sense of the information, particularly when ingredients have unpronounceable names and effects that can’t be easily researched by ordinary people? What’s in Your Food? includes all of the additives used in foods and cosmetics distributed in America. It’s formatted alphabetically by ingredient with easy-to-read tables that tell at a glance the health risks posed by each one. A column with smiley faces that are happy, sad, or neutral gives an instant reading of the author’s conclusions. Our edition includes a glossary, appendix, and other helpful info thoroughly researched and easy to understand. A bonus section on additives found in health and beauty items rounds out the comprehensive approach. Although rich in the details needed to make wise buying decisions, the book is purposely compact to fit easily into pocket or purse, so it’s always handy for a trip to the market.