‘All natural: no artificial colours or flavours’. This was an increasingly familiar claim made for the food we bought in the late 1980s. But what about the other ingredients? Additives are only one form of adulteration. Nitrates, excess water, pesticide residues, too much fat, and the newest of them all food irradiation, are some of the others. The questions they pose for all of us are inescapable, as is the overall issue of poor-quality food dressed up to be what it is not.

In this book, originally published in 1988, the London Food Commission, Britain’s independent food watchdog, spells out the dangers, and suggests solutions. It challenges official policy and condemns official secrecy. It says why British food is the sick food of Europe. It believes that what is needed is a major shake-up in Whitehall and the food trades, and calls for a new anti-adulteration alliance – a positive campaign for improved food policy. And it backs all arguments with rigorous and detailed evidence.

Food matters to everyone. We deserve the best. We will only get it if we demand it. This book spelt out what our demands should be. Still a big topic of interest today this is an opportunity to look at some early issues surrounding the food we buy and assess how far we’ve come.

The London Food Commission was an independent source of research, information, advice and education on food and public health. It was launched in spring 1985, with funds from the Greater London Council. It worked with a wide range of statutory and voluntary organisations, trade unions and individuals. Its interests covered all food matters from production to consumption. It became the Food Commission in 1990 and from 2011 has been a virtual organisation with a website and email address maintained by volunteers and supported by donations and by the Food Commission Research Charity, and occasional grant-funded projects.