cover image Food Cop: Yolanda, Tell Us What to Eat

Food Cop: Yolanda, Tell Us What to Eat

Yolanda Bergman. Bantam Books, $19.5 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-553-07337-9

Readers be forewarned: Bergman, an L.A. caterer and starstruck ``food coach'' once employed as a trainer at Jane Fonda's Workout studio, has won fame among Southern Californians for her evangelical approach to eliminating fatty and junky foods from their plates. Collaborating with magazine editor Eller, she drops names without remorse. Her habit with clients is to toss ``bad'' foods from their shelves and cupboards, stowing the ``safe'' there instead. A pantry ``hit list'' of products deemed unacceptable is sure to rile food manufacturers who glimpse their brand names under her ``worst'' heading. Some of Bergman's targets are misleading: ``All oils are fattening, and even if they are good for your cholesterol, like canola and olive oil, I still avoid the companies that mass produce them,'' she writes. And while many will benefit from her instructions in deciphering the ``fables on the labels'' of food products, the experienced may tire of her exhortations to read these. Bergman mainly polices ready-made foods to be eaten straight from the can or the box. Just 60 pages of her 320-page book offer recipes. However, they include standouts--scallop mango seviche and a Caribbean-style chicken--that make us pine for more from the Cop. (July)