If a piece of individually wrapped cheese retains its shape, color, and texture for years, what does it say about the food we eat and feed our children? Former "New York Times" business reporter and mother Melanie Warner decided to explore that question when she observed the phenomenon of the indestructible cheese. She began an investigative journey that takes her to research labs, food science departments, and factories around the country. What she discovered provides a rare, eye-opening-and sometimes disturbing-account of what we're really eating. Warner looks at how decades of food science have resulted in the cheapest, most abundant, most addictive, and most nutritionally inferior food in the world, and she uncovers startling evidence about the profound health implications of the packaged and fast foods that we eat on a daily basis. From breakfast cereal to chicken subs to nutrition bars, processed foods account for roughly 70 percent of our nation's calories. Despite the growing presence of farmers' markets and organic produce, strange food additives are nearly impossible to avoid. Combining meticulous research, vivid writing, and cultural analysis, Warner blows the lid off the largely undocumented-and lightly regulated-world of chemically treated and processed foods and lays bare the potential price we may pay for consuming even so-called "healthy" foods.

Originally published: New York : Scribner, ©2013.

Introduction -- Weird science -- The crusading chemist -- The quest for eternal cheese -- Extruded and gun puffed -- Putting Humpty Dumpty back together again -- Better living through chemistry -- The joy of soy -- Extended meat -- Why chicken needs chicken flavor -- Healthy processed food -- Sit at home and chew.