IT’S like a war out there. Who would you trust? After all, it’s down to you. You’re the one who’s going to determine whether you survive and ultimately succeed.

It’s apparent, just by the fact that you’re reading this newspaper, that you’ve got what it takes; that you’re intelligent enough. So, who do you believe? Who’s lying to you?

Well, unfortunately, nearly everybody. Or, if not actually lying, misleading you with a type of sleight of hand that makes you do something that, if you really thought about it, you might not.

You think I’m being alarmist? Well, do you trust politicians to tell you the truth? The non-being- economic kind of truth? Surely not. Just consider their motives.

Did they stand for Parliament for purely altruistic reasons; just to represent the well-being of you and all your friends? Or was there just a teensy weensy bit of motive to get and stay in a position of power and influence?

Obviously they’re bound to fashion whatever they communicate so that it conveys the impression that having them there is in your interest and that you should vote for them when it’s time for them to get back in. They’ll work their argument in such a way that you’ll be persuaded. Is that the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Or, dare I suggest, a little selective?

Take the young chap trying to woo the young lady. Will he really love her in the morning and, anyway, doesn’t love last forever? Or is he spinning her a little bit of a yarn in his desperation to consummate his said wooing?

And then there’s commerce. Do you really think that anybody trying to sell you something is going to provide you with all the facts in a very clear manner?

Would the cigarette companies have drawn attention to the life-shortening effects of their products if they hadn’t been forced by legislation?

But even if laws are introduced in order to force the truth out, there’s a continuous game where we, the consumers, are caught piggy-in-the-middle between the legislators and the corporates egged on by their shareholders, trying to confuse us with their sales arguments.

I mean, have you tried to compare mobile phone tariff structures recently? They’re designed to make your decision difficult so that you actually end up choosing their product for non-financial reasons such as the phone’s pretty colour.

And so it is with the manufacturers of processed food.

Only this week there was the surprising (not) news that certain products sold as “light” in fact contained more calories and fat than the “normal” variety.

I’ve long argued that products such as a “virtually fat-free” fruit yoghurt are not the greatest catalyst to a sylph-like you for a number of reasons but not least, that without fat to act as a flavour carrier, they’re unsatisfying and the desire for fulfilment remains once you’ve eaten them.

In all honesty, I don’t think we should complain about that because that’s life. We live in a commercial world so get used to it and, dare I say, wise up to it.

But beware, because things can be very blatant. It’s now been confirmed that some so-called “light” crisps are more fattening than full-fat, that some “healthy” biscuits are at least as calorie-filled as normal ones and good-for- your-gut mini drinks may not be that good for your body in “light” form. And the list goes on.

Short of revolution I believe the only way to know what you’re eating is not to buy processed foods or at least to limit them to those times when they’re really essential or your craving outweighs your self control.

At all other times it’s simple: cook your own food from scratch.

Shopping and cooking take no more time than going to the takeaway. But if we’re not taught, we can’t do it. So we rely on processed foods produced by those nasty companies that don’t tell us the whole truth.

And believe me, that’s the whole truth.

Oldfields Restaurant’s cookbook, Passion for Real Food, is available in good bookshops. For discounted copies, contact the restaurant on Claypath in Durham on 0191 370 9595 or go to www.oldfieldsrealfood.com