A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives [Paperback]

Crown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1978

The essential guide for choosing safe and healthful food

A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives is back, in an up-dated fifth edition. This valuable reference gives you all the facts about the relative safety and side effects of more than 8,000 ingredients that end up indirectly in your food as a result of processing and curing, such as preservatives, food-tainting pesticides, and animal drugs. For example, drugs used to tranquilize pigs have actually been known to sedate diners!
        
More than 800 entries are new to this edition and cover recently developed food production technologies (genetically engineered vegetables, bovine growth hormone, and other outcomes of the processing of food today), as well as information on the new label regulations and on guidelines for safe food storage.
        
A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives is a precise tool that will tell you exactly what to leave on supermarket shelves as a reminder to manufacturers that you know what the labels mean and which products are safe to bring home to your family.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What am I eating? This book answers that question by describing more than 8,000 ingredients found in foods. The dictionary format lets you look up an ingredient alphabetically and learn what it is, how and why it's used, and the benefits and risks. You can decode an ingredient from a food label--haven't you always wondered just what "guar gum" is?--or just skim for interesting facts. For example, the entry on "civet, absolute" explains that this essential oil used as a flavoring is "derived from the unctuous secretions from the receptacles between the anus and genitalia of both the male and female civet cat." Not very appetizing! You'll find this ingredient in raspberry, butter, caramel, grape, and rum flavorings in beverages, desserts, and chewing gum. This book also explains commonly used (but poorly understood) food-label terms like "lite" and "low fat," what counts as a serving for different food groups, and various ways of processing food. There's a helpful chart of food storage guidelines, and resources (including Web sites) for people with food allergies or sensitivities. Ruth Winter, an award-winning science writer, is also the author of A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients and several other books. --Joan Price --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

An essential book for anyone who wants to make informed, healthier choices at the store or at the table. This valuable listing of more than 8,000 food additives includes those that indirectly end up in your food as a result of processing and procuring techniques, and explains the new food labels that are required on products. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Crown (August 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517531615
• ISBN-13: 978-0517531617
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,224,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ruth Winter, MS, The author of 37 popular health books, was past president of The American Society of Journalists and Authors and winner of many awards including: The American Medical Writers Award for Magazine Writing; The National Association of Science Writers Service Award and The American Society of Authors and Journalists Career Achievement Award for Non-Fiction. Ruth Winter is the former science editor of The Newark Star-Ledger, and syndicated for columnist the Los Angeles Time. She contributes often to the Internet. Her A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetics and A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives have just been published in their Seventh Editions by Crown/Three Rivers. She has also written three books with her neurosurgeon husband including the bestselling Brain Workout (St.Martins) They have three children, Robin Winter-Sperry CEO of Scientific Advantage; Craig, Director of Anti-Piracy for The Motion Picture Association of American and Grant, president of Manhattan Bureau Corp, a video film production company. Ruth and her husband Arthur have three grandchildren, Samathana, Hunter and Katlynd.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Very Eye-opening Book, June 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives: Fifth Edition Over 140,000 Copies Sold (Paperback)

I have just added the Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives to my library. I am saddened by the quick jump of some reviewers to post incorrect negative reviews on the book, such as the one commenting on the book entry of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and the other on aspartame. For instance, the reviewer writes, "according to Ruth Winter in her book [Aspartame] was considered a safe additive." This is absolutely NOT correct. Ms. Ruth does not PERSONALLY endorse, recommend, or reject any food additive she lists in her book, including aspartame. Simply, she presents the facts, findings (hers, the FDA's, or a reseach group's), and any controversies surrounding each additive, and leaves it to the reader to judge for him/herself the safety of accepting the additive in their diet, avoiding it all-together, or doing further research on it. This is the approach I am taking to the book, and thus find it an eye-opener when it comes to the characteristics of food additives I never knew about. My approach is, as soon as there is a health concern listed for an additive, confirmed or not by the FDA or else, I avoid it all-together. After all, MSG and aspartame are not necessary for my survival as mother nature intended, and the author does not fail to list the controversies surrounding these two and many others when applicable! In addition, the book is not intended to be an "extensive" study on each food additive as the reviewers wish it to be (one of them writing a 50-page thesis and the other a chiropractic student); rather it is merely a handbook/dictionary/quick-reference. Thus, it is serving its purpose well as it is presentd by Ms. Winter.

I am glad that I was smart and decided to not be deterred by those negative reviews which I read before purchasing the book. Rather I decided to take a look at it myself first-hand, and hope future interested buyers do the same. I wish that reviewers will not jump to unfounded negative comments, because it is only taking an opportunity away from one consumer at a time to benefit from such an informative book if the latter weighs heavily on their reviews in his/her decision against acquiring the book.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, but incomplete., November 4, 2002

By 

Beth - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives: Fifth Edition Over 140,000 Copies Sold (Paperback)

I was very excited to discover and buy this book, but once I received it I was rather dissapointed. It does have quite a bit of information, but I find that it really is missing a lot. For example, there are absolutely no references given for all the supposed results of studies, and those "results" are mostly very brief summaries or interpretations by the author. In addition, some of the entries list a brief or confusing definition which leaves you knowing no more than you did before you read it.

I would find this book much more helpful if it really was written more like a dictionary - with pronunciation keys, simple, clear definitions, and most of all, a significant increase in the amount of information on studies.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A most useful book, August 24, 2000

By 

Peter K. Ellis (Delray Beach, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives: Fifth Edition Over 140,000 Copies Sold (Paperback)

Unlike 2 of the other 3 reviewers I do not have a specific axe to grind. I like this book and find it useful. I continue to find this book great value for money. Ms Winter writes in an easy to understand manner. She does not judge products; but gives warnings where allergies or problems may exist. At the same time she tells of the U.S.Government's stance on items. She often explains why additives are included in foods.

The descriptions of additives are well cross referenced for alternate names and spellings.

Its a great begining for any search for information on these additives. A useful bibliography provides sources for further reading.