Customer Reviews

Stuffed: An Insider's Look at Who's (Really) Making America Fat

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The kernel of Cardello's book is that American obesity is caused by: "Too much high-caloric food that's marketed too effectively to too many who can't resist" (pg 144). The author is a former food industry executive, and his portrayal of obesity culprits is based primarily on his previous employment.

The biggest fault of "Stuffed" is that it is premised on a belief that an entire national health history hinges on fleeting cultural events like television ads or newspaper articles. Cardello makes a huge story-telling mistake in writing as if certain singular events (i.e., Wendy's beef commercials) were cardinal landmarks in creating high levels of American obesity. The actual effect of any of these events is never analyzed--i.e., Did more people get heart disease 20 years after Clara Peller starred in a Wendy's ad? Did more people even eat at Wendy's after this ad? We are just supposed to believe that we are fat, so anything that endorses unhealthy eating must have forced us to be this way. Oh, that human history were really so linear, self-explanatory, and uni-causal. Such a narrative also reveals how little research the author actually conducted. It leaves the reader unable to make an informed or justfied judgement about institutional or personal causes of obesity.

Each chapter loosely focuses on a different food market player, such as boxed goods companies, restaurants, consumers, and government officials. However, the relationships between different players are not explored. This is a major drawback, as the government's role in selectively providing food subsidies for unhealthy products is underrepresented. Cardello points the heaviest finger at food companies themselves, and most of his writing seems aimed at convincing General Mills and Kraft to make healthier products. I agree with other critical readers who note that the book's relevant content could be distilled into a 3-page magazine article.

"Ask the typical American what the four major food groups are and he's likely to answer, 'Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and Southern Fried'" (Cardello, pg 90). If this is what you'd answer, then perhaps "Stuffed" is for you. If not, I would recommend something that offers a more researched and systemic look at the health and safety of our national food production. "Food, Inc" is a movie that does so, Eric Schlosser's well-known "Fast Food Nation" takes on convenience food, and Naomi Klein's "No Logo" addresses the power and techniques of consumer marketing in general.

I've read a lot of books about diet, obesity, fast food, etc. I have also worked in food service for a decade. Although the prose of this book is not as fluid or catchy as many of the similar books out there, it is quite readable and the information is unique. Along with the standard collection of statistics, there are anecdotes, case studies and interviews far outside the realm of normal recitation that bring a lot of depth and breadth to the discussion of this topic that one doesn't usually see. Definitely a keeper!

Oh where to begin. The first half of this book is actually fairly interesting--through about chapter 9. The earlier chapters are the most interesting (or I may have given up in disgust!). Chapters 11-13 are horrible. Actually, they are frightening.

Essentially (without complete and total spoilers as to his arguments, which I find weak anyway), Cardello feels Americans are fat because marketers must be greedy (as per what their job is) and regular people are stupid. Regular people can't be expected to stand up to marketing geniuses and say "No! Don't Supersize my meal!" or to think "I am full now, so I will stop even though I have half a bag left." Regular people can't be expected to NOT order a Monster Thickburger with giant fries and drink because they are so yummy! Regular people are lemmings.

Because Americans are stupid and companies must make money, his solution is what he calls "Stealth Health"--corporations should be sneaking omega 3s into hot dogs and better oils into french fries and vitamins into soda. And Americans shouldn't be told about it. Just like cookbooks that advocate sneaking veggies into your kids in muffins and marinara. I don't believe in tricking my kids--and they LIKE veggies (some more than others). I want them to be adults who can happily eat veggies too, and not never eat them without someone pureeing spinach into chocolate muffins.

Even better, he advocates artificial sweeteners. Yes, the man thinks chemicals are the answer. Because Americans should be able to eat and drink however much of whatever they want whenever they want! But fabulous new low-cal artificial sweeteners and formulated oils that don't absorb will keep people healthy!

What a weirdo.

Personally, I think Americans are fat because 1) Americans are greedy. We are drowning in credit card debt, having homes foreclosed on because we cashed out to buy a boat or fabulous vacations or gambled on ARMs (and now want the gov't to "fix" it--are we going to bail out losers in Vegas too?), and are fat. It's all about greed. We want more than is good for our waistlines, more home than we can afford, and anything we see. We are all greedy--not just the marketers. All of us. And, 2) just like Americans don't understand compounding interest, don't get what rolling the rest of an old car loan into a new one means, don't get how when you supersize a meal, you aren't "saving" 40 cents, you are SPENDING 50 cents you weren't going to spend. It's NOT a great deal if you didn't need it (and no one does, unless you are actually splitting it in half with someone else--or maybe even 2 others).

All of this should be taught in 8th or 9th grade. Compounding interest, how credit cards work, how ARMs work, how marketers get us to spend extra money and make us think we're saving, how serving size is manipulated on packaging. Basic math. The math everyone needs way more than calculus.

On top of the content, the writing is odd (and he had a writer!). Reading this book is like reading a keynote address.

The best part of the book? The image on the cover. It's awesome.

This book is an incredible rarity in American publishing, an author expounding a true "middle way" approach to resolving a crisis. I think that nobody with any common sense could deny the fact that America and the world-at-large are in the midst of an obesity crisis. There are many libertarian/right-wing types who would argue that any solution, other than for consumers to choose to stop eating so much (or so much junk food), is big bad government at its worst. On the other side are those advocating sin taxes (like those on alchohol or cigarettes) on any food that they deem unhealthy, generally NGO's and nutritionists. Cardello advocates a relatively novel approach, i.e. of having the government set goals (like it does for auto emissions) on things like calories, fat, sugar, etc., and let industry figure out how to do so without losing consumer appeal. He doesn't advocate any particular change in eating habits, which is my main critique of the book. He seems to shrug his proverbial shoulders and say that the days of home-cooked healthier food are over, and that the best we can do is just work with industry to develop healthier fast foods, snack foods, and other processed foods. I personally feel that advocating healthier foods is worthwhile, and that while most will always like things like chips, chocolates, sodas, and other things of minimal nutritional value, that doesn't mean that we should just accept that and only work to make those things more nutritious.
I also enjoyed learning a bit more about the food industry from an insider's perspective (e.g. how supermarkets are designed with marketing in mind, and why portion sizes in America are so big) and a businessman's take on the issue. If you have an interest in the food industry, nutrition, and/or the obesity crisis, I highly recommend this book.

I agree very much with the one-star review written by A. B. Morris on Amazon.

This book is aimed at Americans that have never before read even the most basic information about how supermarkets are designed to make you buy more, and that eat almost entirely or entirely packaged foods and fast foods and...that are not very bright or willing to make any type of changes to the way they eat.

The author shows how out of touch he is with basic healthy nutrition by commenting that the idea of not eating anything with ingredients you can't pronounce is ridiculous and would see you starve to death within a week!

The comments about all healthy food tasting awful were also bizarre. As if all of us hate the taste of all vegetables and fruits, eggs, nuts, seeds and high quality meats no matter how well prepared!

The emphasis in this book is on calories and the evils of fat. Eating too many calories and too much fat makes you fat, the author claims. If that was true just recommending smaller serving sizes of the same old highly processed and sugar-filled junk food might be a helpful initiative. But it isn't true. The old 'calories in and calories out' line isn't true - as the book 'Good Calories, bad Calories' and others have explained.

Eating less (of the same old junk) and moving more isn't helpful advice for overweight people, as sensible as this advice seems. Far more important is what you eat, what nutrients it has in it and how much of what you eat is made up of allergens and refined carbohydrates and sugar (which raise blood sugar and insulin levels).

How can eating smaller portion sizes of sugar-filled cereals possibly work, when eating high-sugar foods leaves you more hungry after you've eaten them than before? It just makes no sense. These types of foods go hand in hand with overeating, as many of us can't stop eating them once we start due to blood sugar peaks and falls and so on.

Sometimes our taste buds may be fooled by fake foods but these foods wont fool our bodies, which need the nutrition from real foods. Chemical sweeteners are NOT a great solution to anything either as they have their own set of problems.

One of the worst parts of the book is the insistence by the author that while trans fats are bad for you, replacing them with saturated fats is no better. This statement is so wrong. Trans fats are unnatural fats that aren't safe for you at any level and which are immensely disease causing and dangerous. Saturated fats are healthy fats contained in many of the foods essential to good health that we need to live! (The claimed link between saturated fat and heart disease is bogus. See 'Eat Fat, Lose Fat' or 'Good Calories. bad Calories' or 'Know Your Fats' for more information.)

Chapters 11 to 13 are just horrible. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Tip Top white bread and McDonald's burgers with omega 3s added to them, and chocolate made with (unhealthy) vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter are not wonderful and healthy win-win solutions!

Although the author does some good points about why food manufacturers are not entirely to blame for health issues caused by poor food choices, the arguments in much of this book were very weak. This book is a scary read!

I came to this product description to write a review of this book and found it had already been written for me! I 100% ditto everything said in this review by A. B. Morris on 5/21/09 (thank you AB). Please remember that this book was written by someone who made a lot of money selling processed food. And that's where he wants us to continue spending our money - on processed food. If we all make a move towards eating more whole foods in their natural state, much of the food industry loses our business.

Mr. Cardello has the ability to speak to the reader on many levels. His knowledge of the food industry is extraordinary and his reasoning is sound.

Food companies and consumers would both benefit by following the guidelines laid out in Stuffed.

I always considered myself an informed shopper, after reading Stuffed I see how some of my choices have been manipulated by the multi billions of dollars spent on marketing.

RJ Franks, NJ

"Stuffed" is for anyone that has wondered why the "small" drink at the movie theatre feels more like a bucket than a cup or why the 9-piece chicken McNugget quietly became the 10-piece.

"Stuffed" does a great job of pulling back the curtain on the food industry and what they're doing to keep consumers on our toes. This is not a diet book, but it's a great read from a real industry indsider if you want to learn how to make better food choices without going crazy and becoming a vegan.

This book is very informational and gives great insight on the food industry and decisions food executives make for their companies. However, these decisions and those involved don't necessarily make decisions based on what's best for consumer health and rather make them for what's best for increasing profits. Unfortunately, years of these types of decisions have contributed to the increase in obesity in America. Hank Cardello gives his first-hand insight into the food industry, as he used to be a food executive for some major brand names. He realized the health consequences and switched to the other side becoming a health advocate. This is a great read if you really want to go behind the scenes and see what actually goes on in determining what foods are in the supermarkets.

This books starts out pointing the finger clearly at the obvious culprit in this sad issue - profit-driven corporations. Unfortunately, the author does so in rather an odd way. For example, he spends 16 pages explaining that purchasing agents are bottom-line bean counters. No, really!? Isn't that obvious? That said, the other chapters on the players in the game - food distributors, grocery stores, restaurant designers - are more enlightening (Cardello is an industry insider).

The book rather went off the rails for me, though, when it started to talk about government. I know they're not the total solution, but I do think they have a role to play. Unfortunately, Cardello seems to take a rather reflexive view of government as always meddling and never effective. Not sure where that comes from. Is he a conservative? Is he trying to appeal to conservatives? Is he just too close to the corporate world (it's where he spent most of his life)?

It might be the last one, as his solution is pretty much given over to the corporations too. As Albert Einstein once said, however, "We cannot solve problems by using the same thinking that created them." A couple of reviewers have seen this book as "fair and balanced," but I think that only probably reflects how slanted the playing field already is.