Review : Bitter taste

19 October 1996

The Rubbish on our Plates (Prion Books, £8.99, ISBN 1 85375 223 1) is a
translation from the French of Fabien Perucca and Gerard Pouradier. Dramatic is
a kind term for the style in which the familiar topic of methods of food
production and treatment is tackled. A damning indictment of the industry, the
blurb claims. Possibly, but it is deliberately sensational. For instance, (about
BSE) “the scandal really blew up at the beginning of 1996, with the UK counting
her dead”. Easy on the hysteria and heavy on the salt is the recipe for
reading.