On the Bookshelf: Sina McCullough’s Hands Off My Food: How to Defend Your Food, Health, and Freedom (with book excerpt)

By The MAHA Report

The “Make America Healthy Again” mission is often framed as a battle against corrupt bureaucracies and corporate giants. While that fight is essential, Dr. Sina McCullough, a PhD in Nutrition and a neurobiology expert, argues that our most potent weapon is our right to choice in the grocery aisle.

In her new book, Hands Off My Food! (Skyhorse, Feb 24, 2026), Dr. McCullough goes where most food exposés fear to tread, providing the “receipts” on a system that has moved far beyond simple additives. Her investigation spans the entire landscape of our food supply:

• The “Poison Squad” History: How unfounded public fear birthed the FDA and caused Americans to abdicate their role as food watchdogs.

• The Hormone Experiment: How a genetically engineered hormone was allowed in our milk supply for eight years before safety reviews were even completed.

• Chemical Saturation: The truth about glyphosate and the herbicides now inseparable from the modern diet.

• Pharma Crops: How food crops are being genetically engineered to make vaccines and pharmaceutical drugs right inside their cells.

• Gene-Edited Foods: Analyzing the emerging world of CRISPR foods where mushrooms don’t brown and tomatoes lower blood pressure.

• The “GRAS” Loophole: The “fox guarding the hen house” policy that allows companies to self-regulate the chemicals they dump into our food.

• RNAi Pesticides: The high-tech genetic sprays designed to silence genes in “pests,” which may have unintended consequences for human health.

The Hook: Reclaim Your Watchdog Role

While many books discuss what is wrong with our food, Hands Off My Food! provides the history, the science, and the roadmap for how to reclaim your power. This book is a comprehensive field manual for anyone ready to stop being a guinea pig and start being a watchdog.

Reclaim your health and your sovereignty today. Read this exclusive opening excerpt to discover why the solution starts with you.

The Excerpt

The below is excerpted from Dr. Sina McCullough’s forthcoming book, Hands Off My Food!

How much do you know about your food?

Did you know that artificial dye is sometimes added to oranges to make them appear orange? Ground-up insects are used to make some yogurts and candies look red. It’s legal to radiate foods like eggs, poultry, beef, lettuce, and spices.

Companies create synthetic chemicals in laboratories, often untested and unregulated by the FDA, and slip them into our processed foods. Some packaged cake mixes and frostings contain the same ingredient that is used in antifreeze, while some cereals contain a chemical used in jet fuel and embalming fluid. Even organic foods can contain dangerous chemicals. The FDA is fully aware yet historically has said it is not their problem.

I didn’t realize any of this until I became debilitatingly sick, and no medical doctor could figure out why. I have a PhD in Nutrition from the University of California at Davis, so I am supposed to be an “expert” in food. But I discovered the hard way that America has a food problem. Our food supply is tainted, and it is making us sick.

We are also losing our freedom. From 1985 to 1993, for example, some Americans unknowingly drank milk from cows that received an experimental drug. The government not only knew about it, they sanctioned it. To this day, the government serves us up as un-consenting guinea pigs for chemical companies while nudging us toward foods that undermine our health.

Some people blame the food industry and call for more government intervention to fix the food problem. Yes, industry played a major role in creating the current mess that is our food supply, but they are not the root of the problem. Others blame the government. Yes, government played a role, but it is not the root of the problem either.

Who is the root of the problem?

I am the root of the problem.

You are the root of the problem.

“We the People” are the root of the problem.

We have abdicated our responsibility as watchdogs over our food supply. As consumers, we have allowed ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security regarding the safety and integrity of our food. When was the last time you read an ingredient label—not just glanced at how much fat is listed on the side of the package? Have you questioned if the synthetic chemicals in your favorite box of cookies have been tested for safety?

Many Americans blindly trust our food supply. We eat the food that is sold at the grocery store and don’t question it. After all, if the government allows the food to be sold in our stores, it must be safe, right? Surely someone is making sure these chemicals are safe for us to eat, right?

I used to believe that until I became chronically sick. Maybe you have started suspecting something is “off” with our food supply, too. That is why this book exists: to reveal what is really going on so we can fix it together. This is not a book about blame. It’s about finding solutions.

As we learn the truth, and each of us takes responsibility for our part, that is when the solution becomes clear.

I am the solution.

You are the solution.

“We the People” are the solution.

Our food supply reflects how we spend our dollars. Consequently, we created our food supply, which means we can fix it. All we need to do is consciously vote with our dollars. Food crosses party lines and political boundaries. We do not have to agree about what should be in our food supply or on our dinner plates. Just because I don’t eat GMOs or pesticides doesn’t mean you can’t. Those are individual decisions that each of us can make for ourselves. However, I believe we can find common ground:

• Can we agree that “We the People” have the right to know what is in the food we eat?

• Can we agree that government should not decide what is on our dinner plate based on special interest groups and backdoor deals?

• Can we agree that industry should be held accountable when they dump untested synthetic chemicals into our food?

Let’s unite around the idea of individual freedom. Let’s refuse to be kept in the dark any longer. Let’s become an informed citizenry. Once we consciously speak with our dollars, the entire system changes [...] at the end of the day, our food’s safety rests in our own hands.

[Hands Off My Food! Is available on Amazon]

Dr. Sina McCullough holds a Ph.D. in Nutritional Science and a B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from UC Davis. She is the author of Hands Off My Food! and Beyond Labels, and co-host of the Beyond Labels podcast. A former Director of R&D for a supplement company and instructor at UC Davis, she now focuses on investigative reporting and empowering families to reclaim their health sovereignty. Learn more at drsinamccullough.com.