Although the medical community had long made us aware that fats and cholesterol were unhealthy, few realized exactly how much of them we were eating until the FDA began enforcing food labeling.

Not only could we read with horror the contents of packaged foods at the supermarket, but restaurant chains were forced to provide the nutritional information of their menus. Everything was loaded with fat, cholesterol and the big poison — sugar. Americans quickly realized that our diets were bound to kill us.

We decided that simple foods, minus the rich slatherings of butter and sauces, were preferable. Maybe a little grilled chicken.... that is, until we found that charring foods actually added deadly nitrates.

If grilling, frying and sauteeing were dangerous, perhaps just raw fruits and vegetables were the way to go. Sorry... the Department of Agriculture was forced to release the bad news on how our food was raised. Then we worried about pesticides on produce and hormones in our livestock.

The most frightening turn of events came in the ’90s with the news that our food could be full of diseases. Cholera turned up in Gulf oyster beds. Some foods were found to carry hepatitis. E-coli in the all-American burger was killing people. It was all too frightening to consider. We wondered what we could eat that was safe.

We dealt with these fears in a variety of ways. Some people relied exclusively on organic produce and meats. Some ate less and simultaneously launched into the fitness craze that swept the country. Some relied on soybeans and their byproducts. Tofu sales increased dramatically. Some, of course, turned a blind eye. But many decided to learn how to cook.

The 1970s had seen a real rise in people returning to their kitchens, but in the next decade, home chefs became downright competitive. It wasn’t enough to be able to stir-fry like you were born in Shanghai or make the best cassoulet in town. The chefs in France were developing nouvelle cuisine and cuisine minceur in response to the fat scares, so American cooks followed suit. They learned to make their portions smaller, their sauces from healthy reductions and to use a whole new cornucopia of ingredients.

I personally learned in the ’80s that food snobbery had gotten out of hand when I was served — in a home, mind you — a veal chop with crayfish, kiwi and raspberries napped with a yellow pepper puree. The cook in question read Bon Appetit and Gourmet faithfully, watched all the TV cooking shows, had an account at Williams and Sonoma, and considered himself a real chef. But he had obviously missed the point: Real gourmet food should consist of simple foods, slightly enhanced. Like many cooks, he had gone way beyond that.

Thankfully, most folks soon realized this, and there was something of a backlash in the ’90s. Food became less fussy, and a great meatloaf and mashed potatoes became chic.

The general populace, however, working harder and longer, still dashed around, eating on the run. Fast food sales continued to increase, but we got a little more variety than in the past. Ethnic foods became mainstream. Pizza, which 40 years earlier was largely unknown outside of some neighborhoods in large cities, was the most widely consumed “American” food by 1986. Japanese hibachi-style steakhouse and even sushi bars began to crop up across the country. Mexican food, whether from Taco Bell or genuine restaurants operated by the huge wave of immigrants from across the border, reached a craze status everywhere.

We returned the world’s favor by exporting McDonald’s to places as distant as Beijing and Moscow. I still shudder to think of Parisians gulping down their Big Macs and considering them “American cuisine.”

Convenience was still extremely important to Americans. Supermarkets began to carry such a variety of foods in their frozen sections that you could pick up and nuke an entire dinner. Later, they took this a step further and, in response to the growing number of “gourmet” stores and fresh markets, began to add delis where you could purchase fully prepared meals.

Mail order companies got into the act in a big way, too. Many of us receive many catalogs that are so specialized (I get one that’s just “gourmet” English muffins) that it’s now possible, with a phone and a credit card, to eat well and never go near the kitchen. You can even order your groceries online.

When I opened my restaurant in 1981, I still had to rely heavily on seasonal produce. Today, given improved packaging and shipping, you can have fresh strawberries, asparagus, peaches — whatever your heart desires — for your New Year’s Eve party. It is truly a brave, new world in terms of food.