Customer Reviews
OK, but.... - By: A. S. Gilbert, 10 Jul 2008 
There is a wealth of informationin this chunky little book. I only gaive it three stars because I feel there are rather too many ready-made, branded foods listed because the label on such items would give all the information, anyway, so no need to look them upin a reference book.
Everything I eat I have created myself so I need calorie values of ingredients, not finished items. So I found I had to wade through ready-made, canned, etc before I find what I am looking for.
But for someone who has little idea of caorie values or needs a fuller list this would be a good little reference book to keepin the kitchen.
Poor selection of everyday foods - By: M. J. Williams, 26 Mar 2008 
Items listed within the book assumes everybody buys brands names therefore on that basis the information contained was very limited.
Not So Comprehensive - By: J. Teagle, 03 Dec 2007 
As mentioned by another reviewer, its coverage is less than comprehensive. It seems to blithely assume that people only ever buy brand-named foods - what about shop's own brands? I couldn't find a single one. Pretty good value for money if you ignore this, but disappointing for me as I don't buy brand names. It does at least have a decent selection of fruit & vegin it.
Far from comprehensive - By: S. Hill, 15 Sep 2007 I have used a book like this for years, but wanted an update because many of the manufactured items were out-of-date, & many things which are now commonplace were rarein 1991.
I still find myself using my old bookin preference to this one.
This sort of book should be comprehensive & easy to use.
The book has details of many manufactured foods - which is, to a degree, pointless because (a) manufacturers frequently change their recipes (and thus the food's calories) & (b) publish the calories on the packet. When it comes to basic food items, the coverage is average & has some surprising omissions. For example, it doesn't tell you how many calories there arein raw asparagus, justin the boiled tips. If you want to know the calorific value of aubergine, tough (unless you happen to have fried your auberginein corn oil, that is). And that's just the As.
The layout isn't terribly clear but that's probably more a result of the Gem format. It provides values per 100gin the main: investin a decent set of digital scales & you're away (which should help the honey-dripper reviewer below).
Avoid unless you only eat ready meals!
A Bible for weight loss - By: ash-uk, 05 Jun 2007 
Been there done that, after putting on weight from giving up smoking. If you seriously want to lose weight this book provides the foolproof method without the smoke & mirrors of Atkins Diets etc:
1. Get this book (it's a pocket sized book - you don't need to read it all, just the introduction to get started)
2. Keep a food diary (examples can be found on the web - I kept mine on a spreadsheet)
3. Use the book & the diary to keep a tight track of caloriesin v calories out (the book is a real educationin this respect, also providing information on calories burned during exercise)
4. Then stay below your maintenance calorie level (you can calculate this from the book) & you can't fail to lose weight (I stayed 1000 calories per day below my maintenance weight = about 2lbs loss per week). Even if you consume too many calories one day, do some exercise to take it off the next
5. Some reviewers have downgraded their review of this book because the book provides a calorie count per 100 grams or millilitres of food or drink. However, this is the most foolproof way of calorie counting so keep some scales & a measuring jug handy to take the lazy guesswork out of the equation. Otherwise you will only cheat yourself...!
