Book Review: Chew On This by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson

My newest weight-loss strategy: read through one of Eric Schlosser's books once every few months.

A few years ago, I happened across a well-traveled copy of Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and was disgusted by his vivid descriptions of the filthy conditions of meat-packing plants, as well as what actually goes in to the food we eat.

In Chew On This, Schlosser manages to not just inform, as well as disgust, the reader of the dangers and filthiness of the meat-packing and fast food industries, but the dangers of soda consumption, and the soda industry's plot to boost their sales to children as well.

While the book was written for the 9-12 age bracket, I think that it is a much more clearly written book as opposed to Fast Food Nation. There are just enough facts to inform the reader, but not so many that it turns a reader off from boredom.

The book is filled with many interesting and surprising facts. For instance, did you know that a Chicken McNugget has more fat per ounce than a burger? How about that fast food places, for years, disguised the fact that their fries were fried in beef fat? How do you think those vegetarians out there took to that revelation?

I guarantee that anyone who reads this book will think twice about stopping off to pick up a quick bite at a fast food restaurant. The time one saves by eating at a joint like that is minuscule compared to the extra years one would live by avoiding it all together!