A Summary of the Book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser Essay

Customers, regimen critic and competitors ar all praises over McDonalds French french-fried potatoes for its unique and distinctive apprehension. However, its taste has nonhing to do with neither the potatoes that they ingestion nor their grooming equipment. The source of its distinctive taste has largely to do with cooking oil which is a mixture of 7 per centum cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow, which also explains wherefore it has more arrant(a) avoirdupois per ounce than a McDonalds hamburger.They switched to using pure vegetable in 1990 when they started getting criticisms about the high amount of cholesterol in their fries. This go gave them a whole new challenge on how to maintain the distinctive beefy taste in their fries, which sets them apart from the rest, without using the fat satu yardd beef tallow. The problem was solved by adding hell dust to their fires. A close examination of their ingredients will show you natural flavor, which is hardly natural as natural flavor and artificial flavor atomic number 18 both man-make. It explains why McDonalds fries, as well as Ameri discharge provender in general, tastes so good.The flavor manufacture is very secretive when it comes to their clients. They deem it of terminal importance to protect the reputation of these popular brands and understandably so since they would exchangeable to give the consumers the impression that the flavors and delectability of their sustenance comes from their kitchens and not from elsewhere.International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) is the largest flavor company in the world, also manufactures the scents of some of the to the highest degree favored and finest perfumes in the United States. Foods aroma is responsible for 90 percent of its flavor. In fact, the flavor manufactured in these companies are primarily the musical note of gases being released by the chemicals we put in our mouths.Researches done by scientists communicate that disposition or preference to certain sustenance or taste is usually create at the early stages of a persons life. Aroma or taste, and memory are strongly linked to individually former(a)(a) which explain why a particular smell or taste could trigger a persons memory dressing to childhood, often referred to as comfort foods. This phenomenon is what disruptive food chains, including McDonalds, are banking on in their marketing and promotions. Memory of Happy Meals can translate to stalk adult visits to McDonalds.Meanwhile, the author discussed the American ranchers dire predicament in the place market. McDonalds is Americas largest beef purchaser. In the late 1960s McDonalds buy their beef supply from 175 local suppliers, scarce in their desire to achieve uniformity as its business expanded, they special their suppliers down to only five. some(prenominal) ranchers argue that large corporations have gained command of the market, employing dirty tactics to keep down the price of cattl e.Chicken McNuggets was formed by an idea of McDonalds chairman, Fred Turner, in 1979. He wanted a supplier to create a chicken finger-food without bones, about the size of it of your thumb. The appal breakth rate of poultry in the United States at that metre was a threat to the fast food chain whose only products are burgers.After six months of intensive research, Keystone lab developed a new technology for manufacturing McNuggets, made of reconstituted chicken, composed of white meat, held together by stabilizers, breaded, fried, frozen, then reheated. Its initial test-marketing proved to be so successful that McDonalds hired another company, Tyson Foods, to guarantee adequate supply. The success of McNuggets changed the nations system for fostering and processing poultry.Greeley, Colorado is a town where cattle is the main business, and where workers and machines put to work large steer to vacuum packed packages. However, the industrialization of cattle lift have turned o ne of the nations best- recompenseing manufacturing jobs, into one of the lowest paying, the biggest workforce of which are poor immigrants.The working conditions in these meat fisticuffs plants were horrible to say the least, endangering the lives of its workers as well as those of its consumers. Presently, meat- pugilism plants and agricultural palm hire poor immigrant workers who are willing to receive lower pay than U.S. citizens. Even in the present time when technology and new systems are available, it hardly improved the working conditions of these workers. They work every day amidst the awful stench and dirt, health exposure, injuries, and even death. The different work in meat-packing plants and slaughterhouses are unarguably one of the most dangerous jobs in the planet.Schlosser brought up the armorial bearing of E. coli in meat as one of the hazards in the meat packing industry. E. coli bacteria aid human beings in digesting food, synthesizing vitamins and protects f rom dangerous organisms. On the other hand, E. coli 0157H7 is a mutated version that is harmful and can release a right on toxin called Shiga toxin. It attacks the lining of the intestines that may result to abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, and low-grade fever.It survives deadly when Shiga toxin enters the bloodstream and can lead to kidney failure, anemia, internal bleeding, and destruction of vital organs. Children or patriarchal with impaired immune systems are more equivalently to suffer. Antibiotics do not help and in some cases, even triggers the release of Shiga toxins, after which precise or nothing can be done to those infected. Unlike Salmonella computer virus which requires large doses to cause infection, E. coli 0157H7 requires very little. It only takes a tiny, uncooked pinch of a hamburger to contain enough pathogen to kill a person. This can be transmitted from person-to-person.The bend of America has widely spread for most of the twentieth century, as the popularity of movies, CDs, music videos, television shows, clothing and fashion grow steadily, so does the Americanization of the world. Fast food is one of the most popular American influences which people around the globe actually patronize. Today, the United States has the highest corpulency rate of any industrialized nations. It soared dramatically in proportion to the consumption and popularity of fast food. The Americans stylus of eating and living has changed so drastically in the foregone decades, when people eat more and move less.The popularity and growth of the fast food industry is mainly through their abundance of high-fat, inexpensive meals that are substantially available. They have also increased their portion sizes as a way of attracting customers. The popular fast food chains realized that it was easier to increase the size of their portions than to promote healthier eating habits, as it was very difficult to participation eating habits formed early on in lif e through their own marketing strategies. Even countries such as Japan, whose diet has constantly been believed to be the healthiest in the world, succumbed to the fast food influence. As a result, obesity which used to be a rarity in this country has become more common.In 1994, a libel trial begun between McDonalds and two Greenpeace activists, Helen Steel and Dave Morris, where Steel and Morris was being sued by the fast food chain for libel. They were alleged to have spread leaflets and study that were damaging and untrue. Many years later, the court ruled that the information was indeed libelous as Steel and Morris were not able to prove all of their allegations against McDonalds. This trial dragged on for years, until present time, and has put McDonalds in a much worsened situation than the two activists, due to bad publicity.OpinionAt starting time glance, Fast Food Nation may seem to be a book that is bent on brandishing the fast food industry to be the bad guys. However, this book actually contains a well-researched and factual representation of American lifestyle and eating habits, as well as its remarkable influence in the world. Eric Schlosser wrote a compelling picture of the origins of the present American order of magnitude and the rest of the worlds Americanized way of life.McDonalds have been successful in infiltrating the lives of American consumers and establishing its stronghold in many peoples eating habits. In its aim to provide convenience and fast food to people, McDonalds and the rest of the fast food industry cleverly install a way to give the consumers exactly that, fast food. Just like any other business, is it any wonder that the fast food industry has creatively and cleverly formulated it own strategies and marketing ploys to gain the volatile trust of consumers?Many might wonder, if McDonalds, and the fast food industry in general, should be blamed for the terrible eating habits and obesity that besets many Americans and othe r nations across the world. I believe that the consumers are partly to blame in this predicament after all, what they put in their and their childrens, mouths is ultimately their decision. However, I strongly believe that McDonalds, and the rest of the fast food industry, has a very life-and-death responsibility in putting forth congeal and unveiled information about their food products.It is their business and moral responsibility to put the health of their consumers of utmost consideration and importance, over profits. It is understandable for consumers to unwittingly get qualified to these great-tasting fast foods, and realize only later on that they have made a mistake. Clearly, the fast food industry failed to do their jobs in providing correct and ample information, and in resisting the urge of capitalism and profit over the wellbeing of their consumers, in effect, jeopardizing their lives and exposing the health of your children to grave danger.