Why the food business is bad for the planet and your health

Eat Your Heart Out

From the author of Not on the Label, a shocking exposé of food-production methods today

I can't remember when a book made me more angry. Lawrence's book should be compulsory reading . . . nothing is what it says on the packet

Challenges each and every one of us to think again about what we eat. It's almost like uncovering a secret state within the state

I can't remember when a book made me more angry.  Lawrence's book should be compulsory reading

Felicity Lawrence is an award-winning journalist and editor who has been writing on food-related issues for over twenty years. She is a special correspondent for the Guardian and lives in London.

Why is it... 
 
That almost all the processed foods we eat contain the same handful of ingredients?That these handful of ingredients are produced by only a handful of multi-nationals? 
 
That some cereals contain more salt per serving than a packet of crisps?That served with milk, sugar and raisins, some cardboard packets have been said to be more nutritious than the cereal they contain? 
 
That there are half the number of dairy farms in the UK than there were 10 years ago?That over the same period the turnover of the top 20 global dairy corporations has increased by 60%? 
 
That over 60% of all processed foods in Britain contain soya?That the UK government's Committee on the Toxicity of Food judged that eating soya could have hormone-disrupting effects? 
 
That in 1970, a hundred grams of an average chicken contained less than 9 grams of fat, but today it contains nearly 23 grams of fat?That the amount of protein in that chicken has fallen by more than 30%? 
 
That children aged 4-14 in the UK get 16-17% of their daily calories from processed sugars?That the World Health Organisation's recommended limit is 10%? 
 
That industrialised farming uses 50 times more energy than traditional farming?That livestock farming creates greater carbon emissions than all of global transport put together?That some salmon farmers dye their fish?That sugar could be as bad for you as tobacco?That you might have been better off eating butter rather than margarine all along?That industrial processing removes much of the nutritional value of the food it produces?That by changing our diets we could reduce cancers by a third?That corporations are shaping our bodies, our minds and the future of the planet? 
 
Eat Your Heat Out explains how big business took control of what we eat &ndash; and why so few of us even noticed. Crossing the globe in search of agribusiness's darkest secrets, Felicity Lawrence uncovers some startling facts and stomach-churning figures. Essential reading for anyone who cares about their health and our planet.

Felicity Lawrence

A brave examination of the calamities caused by a policy laughingly called one of 'cheap food'

Challenges each and every one of us to think again about what we buy and eat. It's almost like uncovering a secret state within the state

A thorough, complex and shocking insight into the food we eat in the twenty-first century . . . Perhaps this should be sold as the most effective diet book ever written

I can't remember when a book made me more angry. Lawrence's book should be compulsory reading . . . Nothing is what it says on the packet

Her exposé of the costs of our year-round food cornucopia leaves no packet unscanned, and very few undamned

A devastating analysis of the food business

Felicity Lawrence's horrifying account of how the food we eat is produced doesn't make for a good night's sleep but is compulsively readable. It is the sort of book that changes attitudes

A blistering exposé of the global food industry, focusing on the role supermarkets play in deciding what we eat and how it gets to us. This is a great book that anyone who eats should read. It is also a fantastic diet aid - you may never eat again!

Superb, chilling, excellent. There are not many books that make you radically reconsider everyday choices. The facts simply stagger

Superb. In this re-issued book she has added a brilliant section on the horsemeat scandal

What Really Goes into the Food on Your Plate

In 2004 Felicity Lawrence published her ground-breaking book, Not on the Label, where, in a series of undercover investigations she provided a shocking account of what really goes into the food we eat. Her discoveries would change the way we thought about the UK food industry for ever. And, when the horsemeat scandal hit the headlines in 2013, her book seemed extraordinarily prescient once again. 
 
Now, in this new edition of her seminal work, Felicity Lawrence delves deeply into that scandal and uncovers how the great British public ended up eating horses.

Felicity Lawrence

Praise for Not On the Label

A brave examination of the calamities caused by a policy laughingly called one of 'cheap food'

Challenges each and every one of us to think again about what we buy and eat. It's almost like uncovering a secret state within the state

A thorough, complex and shocking insight into the food we eat in the twenty-first century . . . Perhaps this should be sold as the most effective diet book ever written

A brave examination of the calamities caused by a policy laughingly called one of 'cheap food'

Challenges each and every one of us to think again about what we buy and eat. It's almost like uncovering a secret state within the state

A thorough, complex and shocking insight into the food we eat in the twenty-first century . . . Perhaps this should be sold as the most effective diet book ever written

A brave examination of the calamities caused by a policy laughingly called one of 'cheap food'

Challenges each and every one of us to think again about what we buy and eat. It's almost like uncovering a secret state within the state

A thorough, complex and shocking insight into the food we eat in the twenty-first century . . . Perhaps this should be sold as the most effective diet book ever written

Books by Felicity Lawrence

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter