We are literally eating ourselves to death. In the move from cooking to convenience food we have given up control of what we eat. As a result our food is heavy on sugar, fat and salt, and light on the nutrients our body needs. This is causing a hidden health crisis that will swamp our hospitals just when the baby boomers want their hip operations.

Gareth Morgan and Geoff Simmons latest book cuts straight to the bone of what ails us, and what we can really do about it.

This book focuses on food. Smoking has been largely knocked on the head, so the major threat to our health is now the shortcomings of our diet. What and how we eat drives most of our biggest killers – diabetes, strokes, heart disease, even cancer. So if prevention of illness is the path to a less costly public health system, then food seems like an obvious area to focus on.