Salt, Sugar, Fat Overview

        For the Fall 2014 College Composition course, the students were suggested to read the book Salt, Sugar, Fat. The book was about the food industries and their uses of the three substances as well as the alarming decline in health that Americans are facing. The book was sectioned by topics and despite the title of the book being Salt, Sugar, Fat, the actual order was read by sugar, fat, and then salt. The author of the book not only did extensive research on each of these three substances, but also travelled to several food companies to follow up on his research to attain direct information; making his research and facts in the book thorough. Salt, Sugar, Fat is not meant to shame the food industries, but rather to open the reader’s eyes to what they are putting into their bodies and how it is affecting their health.

        Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The book was both informational and intriguing with its many facts about the food industries. There were so many things that I learned from this book; such as the information about the substance of fat, the competition between different companies, how liquid sugar is more dangerous than the ordinary sugars, and how the company Cargill is the worldwide company that produces the sugars and salts used in almost all the foods we consume. However, the one thing that captivated my attention most was when the author mentioned the marketing strategies of Coca-Cola and Kellogg. This fascinated me because of my interest for business and because of the power that marketing can bring to its products. The mere idea of how food is sold as well as how the product is portrayed to society is absolutely inspiring and mischievous.

        The Salt, Sugar, Fat book will not impact me immensely due to the fact that I personally don’t like to consume loads of junk food. Instead, this book has made me more aware of what I am eating because I have realized that almost everything that is not in it’s pure form does contain some kind of sugar or salt. Not only am I more aware of what I am putting into my body, but rather how I take care of my body. Reading about how the American health is on a downhill slope has caused me to think about how I can maintain my healthy lifestyle with exercise. Along with taking care of my body, I have taken it upon myself to annoy my friends and family of how they eat with the little facts that I learned from the book. Overall this book was a great read and I suggest that more people read this book or become aware of how they are taking care of themselves.