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Loved this book. It's essentially a reference guide to shopping and eating that's been broken down by food category, so when I got it in the mail and saw how HUGE it is (600+ pages) I thought I'd just end up reading the chapters on food topics that interest me. I ended up reading the entire thing - even the sections on foods that I don't eat or care about (two chapters just about margarine?!?). Nestle is an academic and a nutritionist, but also (thankfully) a great writer. She writes intelligently but accessibly about a wide range of topics, starting with the nutritional components/value of each food but also covering relevant issues surrounding its industry's history, regulation by the USDA or FDA, marketing strategies, etc. I learned so much about what is in our food supply and WHY, in addition to getting plenty of common sense advice about which products to buy and eat and which to avoid. Nestle is very sensible - she isn't into food fads, diets, or miracle foods, but does voice her opinions freely and shares her own buying/eating practices concerning each food she writes about.

In short, I think I found WHAT TO EAT so valuable because it is so difficult nowadays to find honest, informed information about food - we are bombarded with health claims ("Green tea prevents cancer!") and warnings ("Aspartame will kill you!"), but this overload of information is usually manipulative spin generated by someone wanting to make a buck off of us. I found myself trusting Nestle and wanting to hear what she had to say about salmon farming, yogurt, children's cereals, fair trade coffee, organic chicken, vitamin water, infant formula, and dozens of other topics. In the end though, her advice is simple: inform yourself about the food that's available to you and make sensible choices. Eat what you like, but not too much (and if you like fake foods or junk foods, eat them sparingly).

Highly recommended reading!