In the last quarter of the 20th century, politicians in Washington, as well as interest groups, regulatory policy makers, and drug industry leaders were forced to confront the hot-button issue of pharmaceutical regulation. The struggle always centered on product innovation, consumer protection, and choice in the free market. As the American economy stuttered in the late 1970s, the stakes were extremely high for the powerful drug industry and the American public. At the center of this drama was the Food and Drug Administration, which was censured from both the left and right of the political spectrum for being too strict and too lenient in the application of its regulatory powers. Lucas Richert explores the FDA, drugs, and politics in the context of the watershed Reagan era, a period when the rhetoric of limited government, reduced regulation, and enhanced cooperation between businesses and U.S. regulatory agencies was on the ascent. As he investigates the controversies surrounding Laetrile, Reye's Syndrome, Oraflex, patient package inserts, diet pills, and HIV/AIDS drugs, Richert argues that the practical application of conservative economic principles to the American drug industry was A Prescription for Scandal.

On the sidewalks of Manhattan's Chinatown, you can find street vendors and greengrocers selling bright red litchis in the summer and mustard greens and bok choy no matter the season. The neighborhood supplies more than two hundred distinct varieties of fruits and vegetables that find their way onto the tables of immigrants and other New Yorkers from many walks of life. Chinatown may seem to be a unique ethnic enclave, but it is by no means isolated. It has been shaped by free trade and by American immigration policies that characterize global economic integration. In From Farm to Canal Street, Valerie Imbruce tells the story of how Chinatown's food network operates amid-and against the grain of-the global trend to consolidate food production and distribution. Manhattan's Chinatown demonstrates how a local market can influence agricultural practices, food distribution, and consumer decisions on a very broad scale.Imbruce recounts the development of Chinatown's food network to include farmers from multimillion-dollar farms near the Everglades Agricultural Area and tropical "homegardens" south of Miami in Florida and small farms in Honduras. Although hunger and nutrition are key drivers of food politics, so are jobs, culture, neighborhood quality, and the environment. Imbruce focuses on these four dimensions and proposes policy prescriptions for the decentralization of food distribution, the support of ethnic food clusters, the encouragement of crop diversity in agriculture, and the cultivation of equity and diversity among agents in food supply chains. Imbruce features farmers and brokers whose life histories illuminate the desires and practices of people working in a niche of the global marketplace.

On the sidewalks of Manhattan's Chinatown, you can find street vendors and greengrocers selling bright red litchis in the summer and mustard greens and bok choy no matter the season. The neighborhood supplies more than two hundred distinct varieties of fruits and vegetables that find their way onto the tables of immigrants and other New Yorkers from many walks of life. Chinatown may seem to be a unique ethnic enclave, but it is by no means isolated. It has been shaped by free trade and by American immigration policies that characterize global economic integration. In From Farm to Canal Street, Valerie Imbruce tells the story of how Chinatown's food network operates amid-and against the grain of-the global trend to consolidate food production and distribution. Manhattan's Chinatown demonstrates how a local market can influence agricultural practices, food distribution, and consumer decisions on a very broad scale.Imbruce recounts the development of Chinatown's food network to include farmers from multimillion-dollar farms near the Everglades Agricultural Area and tropical "homegardens" south of Miami in Florida and small farms in Honduras. Although hunger and nutrition are key drivers of food politics, so are jobs, culture, neighborhood quality, and the environment. Imbruce focuses on these four dimensions and proposes policy prescriptions for the decentralization of food distribution, the support of ethnic food clusters, the encouragement of crop diversity in agriculture, and the cultivation of equity and diversity among agents in food supply chains. Imbruce features farmers and brokers whose life histories illuminate the desires and practices of people working in a niche of the global marketplace.

The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to expand the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in performing its human drug, biological product, and medical device responsibilities. Frequently referred to as the user fee reauthorisation act, FDASIA does include four titles relating to user fees. This book focuses on these acts, as well as the prescription drug user fee act, the FDA medical device user fee program and discusses the proposed FDA user fee acts generic drug user fee amendments.

As aviation is celebrated as one of the world's fastest growing industries, with passenger numbers and cargo volumes projected to double in the next 20 years, Plane Truth sounds a note of caution. In addition to the environmental impact of airport expansion, devouring farmland and wildlife habitats, and aviation's impact of noise and air pollution on communities, Rose Bridger reveals the extraordinary government subsidies for the aviation industry, encompassing government expenditure on infrastructure to tax breaks, all of which serve to support the industry in the face of rising oil prices and global economic downturn. Disavowing 'greenwashing' claims of fuel-efficient aircraft and alternative fuels that will enable growth without climate change, from British Airways to American Airlines, the symbiotic relationship between aviation and the wider socio-economic problems facing humanity is manifest.

Chocolate - the very word conjures up a hint of the forbidden and a taste of the decadent. Yet the story behind the chocolate bar is rarely one of luxury. From the thousands of children who work on plantations to the smallholders who harvest the beans, Chocolate Nations reveals the hard economic realities of our favourite sweet. This vivid and gripping exploration of the reasons behind farmer poverty includes the human stories of the producers and traders at the heart of the West African industry. Orla Ryan shows that only a tiny fraction of the cash we pay for a chocolate bar actually makes it back to the farmers, and sheds light on what Fair Trade really means on the ground. Provocative and eye-opening, Chocolate Nations exposes the true story of how the treat we love makes it on to our supermarket shelves.

During fermentation processes, the determination of microbiological population density and diversity, nutrients concentration and products formation are the most important variables. Nowadays many different approaches are being developed for the monitoring of fermentation processes. The authors review different strategies to monitor alcoholic fermentation processes, ranging from offline to online approaches. In addition, research on fermentation is important in the specific branch of biomedical science, food science. In this book, the authors summarise such research from Thailand, a well-known agricultural country from Asia. The authors also summarise recent reports focusing on the metagenomics analysis and application of the fermentation industry. Furthermore, increasing demand for high-value oils has focused commercial attention on the provision of suitable biosynthetic framework for their production. This book examines the biotechnological production and application of high-value microbial oils. Also highlighted in this book are the recent findings and new strategies in tailoring some relevant industrial products by submerged fermentation. Additional chapters review the application of agro-industrial residues and by-products in biotechnological processes, nutritional needs and sources of n-3 fat and production strategies for microbial DHA and EPA production, and the development and interaction of microbes important for dairy product manufacturing and fermented beverages.

Uncover the truth behind our food addiction - and learn how to break the cycle Many of us find ourselves powerless in front of a bag of crisps, a packet of biscuits, the last slice of pizza. Why is it that we simply can't say no? In The End of Overeating David Kessler, the man who took on the tobacco industry, exposes how modern food manufacturers have hijacked the brains of millions by turning our meals into perfectly engineered portions of fat, salt and sugar, turning us into addicts in the process. The result is a ticking time-bomb of growing obesity, heart conditions and a mass of health problems around the globe. Examining why we're so often powerless in the face of such food, Kessler reveals how our appetites have been and are increasingly hijacked by hyper-palatable foods that encourage us to keep eating - all the time. With a special focus on the growing problems in the UK and Europe, Kessler lays out a clear plan and vital tools for reclaiming control over our cravings.

Two thirds of U.S. adults are overweight, and childhood obesity and diabetes are on the rise. To reverse these health problems, experts are urging Americans to eat healthier. Food labels contain information to help consumers who want to make healthy food choices. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees federal labelling rules for 80 percent of foods. This book explores Food Labelling in the U.S., wherein the FDA needs to better leverage resources, improve oversight and effectively use available data to help consumers select healthy foods. FDA's oversight and enforcement efforts have not kept pace with the growing number of food firms. As a result, FDA has little assurance that companies comply with food labelling laws and regulations for, among other things, preventing false or misleading labelling. FDA has reported that limited resources and authorities challenge its efforts to carry out its food safety responsibilities -- these challenges also impact efforts to oversee food labelling laws. As discussed in this book, the FDA's Food Protection Plan cites the need for authority to, among other things, collect a re-inspection user fee, accredit third-party inspectors, and require recalls when voluntary recalls are not effective.

In this fascinating history, Jeffrey Rothfeder tells how, from a simple idea - the outgrowth of a handful of peppers planted on an isolated island on the Gulf of Mexico - a secretive family business emerged that would produce one of the best-known products in the world. In short order, McIlhenny's descendants would turn Tabasco into a gold mine and an icon of pop culture, making it as recognisable as far bigger brands such as Coca-Cola and Kleenex.To this day, the McIlhenny Co., still run by a family of matchless characters who believe in a rigid code of family loyalty, clings to tradition and the old ways of doing business. Yet by fiercely protecting its beloved brand and refusing to sell out to big food conglomerates, this family business has run circles around its competitors, churning out annual revenues that have surpassed everyone's expectations. A satisfying read for business buffs, "McIlhenny's Gold" is the untold story of the continuing success of an eccentric, private company; a lively history of one of the most popular consumer products of all times.

Corporations often move factories to areas where production costs, notably labor, taxes, and regulations, are sharply lower than in the original company hometowns. Not every company, however, followed this trend. One of America's most iconic firms, the Campbell Soup Company, was one such exception: it found ways to achieve low-cost production while staying in its original location, Camden, New Jersey, until 1990.

The first in-depth history of the Campbell Soup Company and its workers, Condensed Capitalism is also a broader exploration of strategies that companies have used to keep costs down besides relocating to cheap labor havens: lean production, flexible labor sourcing, and uncompromising antiunionism. Daniel Sidorick's study of a classic firm that used these methods for over a century has, therefore, special relevance in current debates about capital mobility and the shifting powers of capital and labor. Sidorick focuses on the engine of the Campbell empire: the soup plants in Camden where millions of cans of food products rolled off the production line daily. It was here that management undertook massive efforts to drive down costs so that the marketing and distribution functions of the company could rely on a limitless supply of products to sell at rock-bottom prices. It was also here that thousands of soup makers struggled to gain some control over their working lives and livelihoods, countering company power with their own strong union local.

Campbell's low-cost strategies and the remarkable responses these elicited from its workers tell a story vital to understanding today's global economy. Condensed Capitalism reveals these strategies and their consequences through a narrative that shows the mark of great economic and social forces on the very human stories of the people who spent their lives filling those familiar red-and-white cans.

Canned foods are a significant component of the diet of most people in both developed and developing countries, offering a wider choice of nutritious, good quality foods in a convenient form all year. During canning, both desirable and undesirable changes occur in nutritional and sensory properties of foods, resulting from heat treatment employed for the destruction of microorganisms to achieve the desired commercial sterility. The extent of thermal processing, in terms of both temperature and duration of the treatment, is dependent upon the chemical and physical composition of the product, the canning medium and the conditions of storage, determining the product quality in terms of its sensory properties and nutrient content. This book reviews the major principles and operations used during food canning, identifies the nutritional and sensory changes occurring during the process and their effect on the quality of canned foods. In addition, it explains the use of response surface methodology (RSM) as modelling and optimisation techniques used in the canning industry in recent times to manipulate canning processes to maintain the nutritional and sensory qualities of canned foods, using two recent studies where RSM was used to study the effect of pre-canning processes including blanching time, soaking time and sodium hexametaphosphate [(NaPO3)6] salt concentration on moisture, minerals, leached solids, phytates, tannins and hardness (texture) of cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) and bambara groundnut (Voandzei subterranea). Regression models were developed to predict the pre-canning parameters that yield the best quality products, with minimal effects on the nutritional and textural properties of the products. The optimal conditions found to achieve the optimum quality of the canned cowpeas were blanching time of 5 min, soaking time of 12 h and [(NaPO3)6] salt concentration of 0.5%, and for the bambara groundnut; blanching time of 8 min, soaking time of 12 h and [(NaPO3)6] salt concentration of 0.5%. The combination of blanching, soaking and [(NaPO3)6] salt were modelled using RSM to retain the nutritional (mineral) content of products while reducing the anti-nutritional factors and the hardness of the canned products with acceptable quality characteristics, indicating that as recent advances in canning technology, modelling techniques could be used to control canning operations while retaining desirable product quality characteristics.

This book looks at the flip side of globalization: How does a company from the Global South behave differently when it also produces in the Global North? A Mexican tortilla company, "Tortimundo," has two production facilities within a hundred miles of each other, but on different sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The workers at the two factories produce the same product with the same technology, but have significantly different work realities. This "global factory" gives Carolina Bank Munoz an ideal opportunity to reveal how management regimes and company policy on each side of the border apply different strategies to exploit their respective workforces' vulnerabilities.

The author's in-depth ethnographic fieldwork shows that the U.S. factory is characterized by an "immigration regime" and the Mexican factory by a "gender regime." In the California factory, managers use state policy and laws related to immigration status to pit documented and undocumented workers against each other. Undocumented workers are subject to harsher punishment, night-shift work, and lower pay. In the Baja California factory, managers sexually harass women who make up most of the workforce and create divisions between light- and dark-skinned women, forcing them to compete for managerial attention, which they understand equates with job security. In describing and analyzing the differences in working conditions between the two plants, Bank Munoz provides important new insights into how, in a globalized economy, managerial strategies for labor control are determined by the interaction of state policies and labor market conditions with race, gender, and class at the point of production."

This book looks at the flip side of globalization: How does a company from the Global South behave differently when it also produces in the Global North? A Mexican tortilla company, "Tortimundo," has two production facilities within a hundred miles of each other, but on different sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The workers at the two factories produce the same product with the same technology, but have significantly different work realities. This "global factory" gives Carolina Bank Munoz an ideal opportunity to reveal how management regimes and company policy on each side of the border apply different strategies to exploit their respective workforces' vulnerabilities.

The author's in-depth ethnographic fieldwork shows that the U.S. factory is characterized by an "immigration regime" and the Mexican factory by a "gender regime." In the California factory, managers use state policy and laws related to immigration status to pit documented and undocumented workers against each other. Undocumented workers are subject to harsher punishment, night-shift work, and lower pay. In the Baja California factory, managers sexually harass women who make up most of the workforce and create divisions between light- and dark-skinned women, forcing them to compete for managerial attention, which they understand equates with job security. In describing and analyzing the differences in working conditions between the two plants, Bank Munoz provides important new insights into how, in a globalized economy, managerial strategies for labor control are determined by the interaction of state policies and labor market conditions with race, gender, and class at the point of production."

Neoliberals often point to improvements in public health and nutrition as examples of globalisation's success, but this book argues that the corporate food and medicine industries are destroying environments and ruining living conditions across the world. Scientist Stan Cox expertly draws out the strong link between Western big business and environmental destruction. This is a shocking account of the huge damage that drug manufacturers and large food corporations are inflicting on the health of people and crops worldwide. Companies discussed include Wal-Mart, GlaxoSmithKline, Tyson Foods and Monsanto. On issues ranging from the poisoning of water supplies in South Asia to natural gas depletion and how it threatens global food supplies, Cox shows how the demand for profits is always put above the public interest. While individual efforts to 'shop for a better world' and conserve energy are laudable, Cox explains that they need to be accompanied by an economic system that is grounded in ecological sustainability if we are to find a cure for our Sick Planet.

In this engaging inquiry, originally published in 1989 and now fully updated for the twenty-first century, Warren J. Belasco considers the rise of the "countercuisine" in the 1960s, the subsequent success of mainstream businesses in turning granola, herbal tea, and other "revolutionary" foodstuffs into profitable products; the popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets; and the increasing availability of organic foods.

From reviews of the previous edition:

"Although Red Zinger never became our national drink, food and eating changed in America as a result of the social revolution of the 1960s. According to Warren Belasco, there was political ferment at the dinner table as well as in the streets. In this lively and intelligent mixture of narrative history and cultural analysis, Belasco argues that middle-class America eats differently today than in the 1950 because of the way the counterculture raised the national consciousness about food." Joan Jacobs Brumberg, The Nation

"This book documents not only how cultural rebels created a new set of foodways, brown rice and all, but also how American capitalists commercialized these innovations to their own economic advantage. Along the way, the author discusses the significant relationship between the rise of a 'countercuisine' and feminism, environmentalism, organic agriculture, health consciousness, the popularity of ethnic cuisine, radical economic theory, granola bars, and Natural Lite Beer. Never has history been such a good read " The Digest: A Review for the Interdisciplinary Study of Food

"Now comes an examination of . . . the sweeping change in American eating habits ushered in by hippiedom in rebellion against middle-class America. . . . Appetite for Change tells how the food industry co-opted the health-food craze, discussing such hip capitalists as the founder of Celestial Seasonings teas; the rise of health-food cookbooks; how ethnic cuisine came to enjoy new popularity; and how watchdog agencies like the FDA served, arguably, more often as sleeping dogs than as vigilant ones." Publishers Weekly

"A challenging and sparkling book. . . . In Belasco's analysis, the ideology of an alternative cuisine was the most radical thrust of the entire counterculture and the one carrying the most realistic and urgently necessary blueprint for structural social change." Food and Foodways

"Here is meat, or perhaps miso, for those who want an overview of the social and economic forces behind the changes in our food supply. . . . This is a thought-provoking and pioneering examination of recent events that are still very much part of the present." Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter"

Written by a leading campaigner for GM Watch, one of the world's leading lobbying groups, this book reveals the huge issues that are at stake. Genetically modified food has been headline news for years, but it's difficult to know how far the genetic revolution has affected our lives. Is the food on our shelves free of genetically engineered ingredients? How much power do food corporations wield? Andy Rees provides the answers. He shows that, while corporations that produce genetically modified food have met with resistance in Europe, their hold on the US market is strong. They're also expanding operations in less-regulated countries in Africa, Asia and the former Soviet bloc. The US has launched a legal suit to attempt to force the European market open to genetically modified food. What does the future hold? This brilliantly readable book tells us all we need to know.

As the popularity of coffee and coffee shops has grown worldwide in recent years, so has another trend-globalization, which has greatly affected growers and distributors. This book analyzes changes in the structure of the coffee commodity chain since World War II. It follows the typical consumer dollar spent on coffee in the developed world and shows how this dollar is divided up among the coffee growers, processors, states, and transnational corporations involved in the chain. By tracing how this division of the coffee dollar has changed over time, Grounds for Agreement demonstrates that the politically regulated world market that prevailed from the 1960s through the 1980s was more fair for coffee growers than is the current, globalized market controlled by the corporations. Talbot explains why fair trade and organic coffees, by themselves, are not adequate to ensure fairness for all coffee growers and he argues that a return to a politically regulated market is the best way to solve the current crisis among coffee growers and producers.

The transition from socialism in Eastern Europe is not an isolated event, but part of a larger shift in world capitalism: the transition from Fordism to flexible (or neoliberal) capitalism. Using a blend of ethnography and economic geography, Elizabeth C. Dunn shows how management technologies like niche marketing, accounting, audit, and standardization make up flexible capitalism's unique form of labor discipline. This new form of management constitutes some workers as self-auditing, self-regulating actors who are disembedded from a social context while defining others as too entwined in social relations and unable to self-manage. Privatizing Poland examines the effects privatization has on workers' self-concepts; how changes in "personhood" relate to economic and political transitions; and how globalization and foreign capital investment affect Eastern Europe's integration into the world economy. Dunn investigates these topics through a study of workers and changing management techniques at the Alima-Gerber factory in Rzeszow, Poland, formerly a state-owned enterprise, which was privatized by the Gerber Products Company of Fremont, Michigan.Alima-Gerber instituted rigid quality control, job evaluation, and training methods, and developed sophisticated distribution techniques. The core principle underlying these goals and strategies, the author finds, is the belief that in order to produce goods for a capitalist market, workers for a capitalist enterprise must also be produced. Working side-by-side with Alima-Gerber employees, Dunn saw firsthand how the new techniques attempted to change not only the organization of production, but also the workers' identities. Her seamless, engaging narrative shows how the employees resisted, redefined, and negotiated work processes for themselves."

Camembert--delectably fragrant, creamy-centered, neatly boxed--is the most popular and most famous French cheese. Originally made by hand in the Norman countryside, it is now mass-produced internationally, yet Camembert remains a national symbol for France, emblematic of its cultural identity. In this witty and entertaining book, Pierre Boisard investigates the history of Camembert and its legend. He considers the transformation of France's cheese-making industry and along the way gives a highly selective, yet richly detailed history of France--from the Revolution to the European Union. "Camembert: A National Myth "weaves together culinary and social history in a fascinating tale about the changing nature of food with implications for every modern consumer.
As the legend goes, by coincidence, grand design, or clever marketing, the birth of Camembert corresponds almost exactly in time with the birth of the French republic. In this book, republicans and Bonapartists, revolutionaries and priests are reconciled over the contents of a little round box, originating a great myth and a great nation. The story of the cheese's growing fame features Napoleon, Louis Pasteur, the soldiers of the First World War, and many others.
Beneath this intriguing story, however, runs a grittier tale about the history of food production. We learn, for example, how Camembert became white--a topic that becomes a metaphor for the sanitation of the countryside--and how Americans discovered the secrets of its production. As he describes the transformation of the Camembert industry and the changing quality of the cheese itself, Boisard reveals what we stand to lose from industrialization, the hallmark of the past century.
Today, small producers of raw-milk, ladle-molded Camembert are fighting to keep their tradition alive. Boisard brings us to a new appreciation of the sensual appeal of a lovely cheese and whets the appetite for a taste of the authentic product.

Eat Your Genes describes the genetic engineering techniques used in agriculture. It explores the food industry's commercial motivations, why certain crop modifications have predominated, and the importance of patenting to the genetic engineering enterprise. This book explains how crop segregation and labelling are central to the debate, and outlines the development of consumer resistance to the marketing of GM food in Europe. The potential health and ecological risks, the ethical issues, and the implications for both industrialized and developing countries are examined. The author argues that genetic engineering is still a long way from meeting its promises of feeding the world's hungry and contributing to a more eco-friendly agriculture. As the public debate over the desirability of GM food continues, this is the book to help you think through what is involved.

We all have to eat; it's one of the necessities of life. Thus, the status of the food supply is of great concern to everyone. American consumers spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually on food, so someone has to keep the population relatively assured that they are not purchasing contaminated condiments. Much of this responsibility has fallen into the hands of government. Since the passage of food safety laws in the early 1900s, the federal government along with state and local agencies have overseen the sanitary conditions of the US food industry. Overall, agencies like the FDA have been successful in regulating food production. However, occasional outbreaks of illnesses do occur, so food safety remains an evolving art. This book provides an overview of governmental oversight of the American food industry. The articles give the history behind relevant agencies, legislation and important events. In the unending quest to find good food, such a collection becomes as necessary as eating.

* No hold's barred exposi of the world's largest food company* Uncovers predatory activities and unfettered monopoly that effect every American consumerTransnational corporations straddle the globe, largely unseen by the public. Cargill, with its headquarters in the US, is the largest private corporation in North America, and possibly in the world. Cargill trades in food commodities and produces a great many of them: grains, flour, malt, corn, cotton, salt, vegetable oils, fruit juices, animal feeds, and meat. Among its most profitable activities is its trade in the global financial markets. There are few national economies unaffected by Cargill's activities, and few eaters in the North whose food does not pass through Cargill's hands at some point. Yet Cargill remains largely invisible to most people and accountable to no one outside the company.This is the second edition of an explosive book that breaks the silence on the true extent of Cargill's power and influence worldwide -- its ability to shape national policies, and the implications of these strategies for all of us. Thoroughly revised and updated, 'Invisible Giant' offers shocking new evidence of Cargill's activities since the book was first published in 1995. Kneen examines how it has succeeded in eliminating competition by undertaking joint ventures with virtually all of its supposed competitors. He shows how this massive corporation continues to acquire and divest, extending its grip even further in what amounts to almost total control of the global food system.

The Bacardi rum company is one of the most successful and recognisable brands in the world. It spends millions on marketing itself as the spirit of youth and vitality. But behind its image as a party drink lies a very different story.In this book, investigative journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina brings to light the commercial and political activities of the Bacardi empire to reveal its role in fostering the 40-year long confrontation between the United States and the revolutionary government of Cuba. Through meticulous research, Ospina reveals how directors and shareholders of the family-owned firm have aggressively worked to undermine the Castro government. He explores how they have been implicated in supporting paramilitary organisations that have carried out terrorist attacks, and reveals their links to the extreme right-wing Cuban-American Foundation that supported Ronald Reagan's Contra war in Nicaragua.Bacardi The Hidden War explains the company's hand in promoting 'special interest' legislation against its competitor, Havana Club Rum, which is manufactured in Cuba and promoted by the European company Pernod-Ricard. Ospina reveals the implications of Bacardi's involvement in this growing dispute that threatens to create a trade war between America and Europe. Exploring the Bacardi empire's links to the CIA, as well as its inside links with the Bush administration, this fascinating account shows how multinational companies act for political as well as economic interests.

The potato chip has been one of America's favorite snacks since its accidental origin in a nineteenth-century kitchen. Crunch! A History of the Great American Potato Chip tells the story of this crispy, salty treat, from the early sales of locally made chips at corner groceries, county fairs, and cafes to the mass marketing and corporate consolidation of the modern snack food industry. Crunch! also uncovers a dark side of potato chip history, including a federal investigation of the snack food industry in the 1990s following widespread allegations of antitrust activity, illegal buyouts, and predatory pricing. In the wake of these ""Great Potato Chip Wars,"" corporate snack divisions closed and dozens of family-owned companies went bankrupt. Yet, despite consolidation, many small chippers persist into the twenty-first century, as mom-and-pop companies and upstart ""boutique"" businesses serve both new consumers and markets with strong regional loyalties. Illustrated with images of early snack food paraphernalia and clever packaging from the glory days of American advertising art, Crunch! is an informative tour of large and small business in America and the vicissitudes of popular tastes.