I'm not entirely sure if I can really say that I read this, because I only read around three quarters of it, but I do know I'm not going to continue it.
I read this for a class, so it was never going to be the most captivating choice, but I did actually find some interest in it. By the title, I assumed that this was going to be more about obesity and things like that, but it was more about big corporations and greed, which is a conversation I do enjoy participating in. That being said, it was a little bit boring, and I unfortunately don't want to commit more time to it. I did like Schlosser's commentary, though.

I am already a vegetarian, but reading this book would make anyone think twice about consuming food sold in fast food restaurants. Larger ethical issues are addressed as well, along the lines of who has the power to regulate food. I was shocked at what I read here, and I already assumed it was pretty bad. I'm now questioning purchasing processed food at all. Blech.

As always, some quotations:
 “After closing my eyes, I suddenly smelled a grilled hamburger. The aroma was uncanny, almost miraculous. It smelled like someone in the room was flipping burgers on a hot grill. But when I opened my eyes, there was just a narrow strip of white paper and a smiling flavorist.”

“Each steer deposits about fifty pounds of manure every day… The amount of waste left by the cattle that pass through Weld County is staggering. The two Monfort feedlots outside Greenley produce more excrement than the cities of Denver, Boston, Atlanta, and St. Louis – combined.”

“The market is a tool, and a useful one. But the worship of this tool is a hollow faith. Far more important than any tool is what you make with it. Many of America’s greatest accomplishments stand in complete defiance of the free market: the prohibition of child labor, the establishment of a minimum wage, the creation of wilderness areas and national parks, the construction of dams, bridges, roads, churches, schools, and universities.”

“Much like the workings of the market, technology is just one means to an end, not something to be celebrated for its own sake.” “No society in human history worshipped science more devoutly or more blindly than the Soviet Union, where “scientific socialism” was considered the highest truth. And no society has ever suffered so much environmental devastation on such a massive scale.”

O livro dá uma boa esmiuçada na industria do fast food, desde a origem dos alimentos, até a produção e comercialização. Também trata das condições precárias dos trabalhadores, dos lobbys do setor e da forma imperialista como tem se alastrado pelo mundo. Apesar de alguns ítens não prenderem muito minha atenção, condiz com o que esperava da leitura.

"As God as my witness, I shall never eat another hamburger as long as I shall live!" That's what I said after reading this book. Then the phone rang. It was my friend who wanted to go grab a quick bite at Wendy's. I had a cheeseburger. I never looked back baby!
It's not that this book paints the fast food industry in a wicked horrible light. It doesn't become a witch hunt, this isn't "Hey, you know, Elie Wiesel is right, Nazi's are real sons of bitches!" (which is what I expect most people think after reading Night. I've never read it myself... I just expect people think that after reading said book... though to be honest, most people probably think that already, unless you're Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), but it's not all puppys and flowers either. Really, it's rich old white men looking out for themselves (and who else are they going to look out for?)
It's been a few years since I've read the book, so I could be wrong about this, but I'm going to say this book isn't even as harsh on the fast food industry as Supersize Me (A film which I refuse to see, because: Duh! Eat nothing but fast food for a month and you're going to get sick? Who was shocked by this movie? "No, but you don't get it... it's how sick he was, and how fast." That's usually the opposing argument I get. I still say "Duh!" I'm going to make a movie where I shoot up heroin three times a day for a month, or smoke seven packs of cigarettes a day for a month, or hit myself in the head with a hammer five times a day for a month, and see what happens. I really want people to say, "Man, I knew that hitting yourself in the head with a hammer was dangerous, but who knew how dangerous it could be. I mean he was brain damaged by the second day! I'm never hitting myself in the head with a hammer again!" But I digress, this isn't about film... this is about books).
It's a pretty good book for the history lesson on how fast food got started, and how the industry has done a good job screwing everyone from farmers, to fat kids, to illegal migrant workers, to small business owners, to who knows who else. And just when you start to think, "Man, screw fast food..." the author himself says he still eats fast food... then you think, "I sure do like them McDonalds fries." Then you hear about the newest Halo 3 tie in at Burger King, where not only will your fries be wrapped in a Halo 3 themed package, but your soda will come in a Halo 3 cup!?!?"
So what, so what if the meat might be tainted with the fingers of an illegal, or so what if the farmer who sold the slaughtered cow can barely aford new boots, dammit, I want it my way, and I want it my way now!
Plus there is this one part of the book that talks about how some fast food companies will donate money to schools in exchange for advertising space or a spot in the cafeteria... and let's be honest, what would you rather have fat smart kids, or fat dumb kids? (Smart thin kids isn't an option- this is public school we're talking about here).
It's a light romp through the dark underbelly of the fast food world. It'll learn you but good, and it certainly gave me pause, right before I went out and got a #4 supersized with a Dr. Pepper (cause Dr. Pepper rulz).

I may be a sucker for propoganda (I'm not questioning the authenticity of anything inparticular), but I really enjoyed how this book put things out there. Vegetarianism is so sexy.

"Non à MacMerde"

I’ve always indignantly asked whoever cared to listen how come America, the all powerful America, that banished smoking and prohibited alcohol in the name of public health, does not seem to see the close relationship between obesity (the second cause of mortality in the USA) and fast food and lets fast food industry flourish.

I’d already guessed the reason, but after reading Schlosser’s book I know for sure. And so will you, if you’re interested in the subject, for there is a lot of accurate information of how the fast food chains and the meat industry gained their power and controlled the market until they became a symbol of modern American civilization, to be envied and followed by other nations:

Simply eating at a McDonald's in Beijing seems to elevate a person's social status. The idea that you are what you eat has been enthusiastically promoted for years by Den Fujita, the eccentric billionaire who brought McDonald's to Japan three decades ago. "If we eat McDonald's hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years," Fujita once promised his countrymen, "we will become taller, our skin will become white, and our hair will be blonde."

Like the huge epidemics in the past, fast food chains are continually spreading, killing people all around the world, for obesity is an illness as fatal as any other incurable disease:

In China, the proportion of overweight teenagers has roughly tripled in the past decade. In Japan, eating hamburgers and French fries has not made people any blonder, though it has made them fatter. Overweight people were once a rarity in Japan.

Moreover, often fast food is contaminated with E-coli or Salmonella, since the process of meat preparation resembles nowadays to a factory assembly line where speed is more important than hygiene. I never liked hamburgers, but after reading what I after learnt to be probably the most quoted line in the book…

There is shit in the meat

…nobody will ever convince me to taste one again.

There are many disturbing facts in “Fast Food Nation”, like improper conditions of working in slaughterhouses and meatpacking companies, the savage exploitation of illegal immigrants and / or almost illiterate workers, the pressure of politicians who create or block laws to defend their own interest in the industry, the alarming lack of protection of children’s health by not only permitting but even encouraging the entry of fast food in schools’ cafeterias whilst heavily advertising it in front of them, the rubbish cattle and poultry eat (like dead pigs and dead horses), the rubbish in the ground meat (which brings “far more fecal bacteria in the average American kitchen sink than on the average American toilet seat”), etc.

All that should warn us of the danger not only of the consequences of bad eating but also of carelessly ignoring the fast food influence on our society, from health to economics, politics and even aesthetics. Are we truly intended to be remembered, for generations to come, as that dark age of fat people who never cared what they put in their mouth? Wake up, people, says Eric Schlosser all along his disquieting study, speak up, don’t let yourself slaughtered on the table of big profit and low esteem of the huge companies. You have the power to stop it, do it before it is too late:

Pull open the glass door, feel the rush of cool air, walk inside, get in line, and look around you, look at the kids working in the kitchen, at the customers in their seats, at the ads for the latest toys, study the backlit color photographs above the counter, think about where the food came from, about how and where it was made, about what is set in motion by every single fast food purchase, the ripple effect near and far, think about it. Then place your order. Or turn and walk out the door. It's not too late. Even in this fast food nation, you can still have it your way.

An interesting take on how evil “big corporate food is”. I assume in America, because I have heard of so many that have had the exact opposite happen to them in Canada.

People who have had the “Fast food” joint endure they were well cared fir after an accident. I have dealt with 100’s of claims against insurance companies (and workers comp) that deny the workers claims and often I am paid by the employers.

The topics documented in this book have been meticulously researched.
This book is filled with many more reasons for people to abstain from supporting the horrors of the meat industry.

Rating - 8.9

The most disturbing read to date, as it is appalling to fins out how the fast food and related supplier operate in the name of profits - North America is suffering from homo-economicus

Unskilled labour, poor working conditions, children advertising, obesity are all issues that N America will have to be addressed in the very near future - a self-imposed boycott is in order

Interesting Thoughts
McDonalds was started in 1940 as a drive-in business - San Bernardino

Turnover in staff and teenagers changed the format to burgers and standardized processes. Hired only young men to keep away teenagers

Hell’s Angels formed in the 1940’s from disgruntled war veterans

Walt Disney and Ray Kroc perfected the art of selling to children, turning them into a demographic group that is avidly studied

Disney was an ass that kept his workers repressed, over-worked, and underpaid

McDonald’s Bill - Passed by Nixon that allowed FF to pay teenagers 20% less than minimum wage

Willard Scott introduced the Ronald McDonald concept and image - original mascot was a chef named Speedee

1991 - almost all six year olds could recognize Joe Camel - power of advertising on children

25% of children between 2-5 have a TV in their bedroom

Playlands and toy promotions bring in children who bring in parents who bring in $

Parents bring in their children so they feel like a good parent - psychology

McDonalds brand image is to be a trusted friend

1993- Corporations start marketing in schools and becoming sole suppliers

Adult market for soda is stagnant - growth is coming from kids. 300% growth in daily cola consumption by kids - 21% of caloric intake

20% of two year olds drink pop

Corporate sponsored textbooks are skewing reality - P&G, American Coal, and Exxon have re-written books to erase their negative image - 80% are biased

30% of high schools offer branded fast food

Population of California is less than 50% white - first time in 150 years

McDonalds uses satellite photography to predict urban sprawls and where schools will be built

20% of FF workers do not speak English as a first language

National Restaurant Association opposes any rise to minimum wage at federal, state, or local level

Corporate executive bonuses of the same restaurants are in excess of $100M

In one case, a McDonalds that had voted to join a union was shut down and one opened across the street

Kids who work long hours are more apt to cut class, drop out of school, and develop substance abuse problems

Five FF workers are murdered each month - not a rarity that it is a former employee involved

Typical employee steals about $218/year

Costs about $100M to open a Subway

1965 - McDonald’s switches to cheaper frozen fries - JR Simplot

Fry processors are putting the pinch on potato farmers

Fallacy of Composition - a mistaken belief that something that is good for one individual will still be good if everyone does it

Flavor industry is highly secretive. They do not divulge precise formulas on how they are made and compounded. Companies want the consumer to believe that the tastes are made in their kitchen, not in a distant lab

Aromas are made through the manipulation of volatile chemicals to produce a scent

Flavor is nothing more than the smell of gases that have been released in your mouth. Goes through the mouth and up the nose

Flavor industry has revenues of $1.4B

FDA does not require the disclosure of how flavors are made. Hides the fact that the flavor will have more ingredients than the food product itself

A natural flavor is a flavor that has been made w an out of date technology

P126 - what is in artificial strawberry flavor

Sherman Antitrust Act - regional division, price-fixing, and shared supplier information

Mcnugget not only changed the American diet but how processing poultry is made - from whole to pieces

Chicken grower earns about $12M/year

Upton Sinclair ‘The Jungle’ - described the working factory conditions - a man fell into a vat and was turned into lard which was sold to the unsuspecting public

Organized crime is big in the meatpacking business

A high turnover rate in the meatpacking business makes it harder to unionize and more profitable (benefits, vacations) - all cheap immigrant labor. Accidents are frequent and serious. The cleaner has the worst job

Females regard sex with their supervisors as a way to get either an easier job or a path into America

Everyday 200M people are sickened by a food disease, 900 hospitalized, and 14 dead

Why eating a hamburger can make you ill - there is shit in the meat

Jack in the Box e. coli outbreak - over 200 hospitalized and 4 dead from undercooked hamburgers

McDonald’s had the same in 1982, however they denied the issue to the media

Rising grain prices have led livestock to be fed w dead cat and dog remains and other inexpensive waste products - the cause of Mad Cow disease in the UK

Republican administrations cut spending on health measures - bought off by the industries. Newt Gingrich opposed an increase to minimum wage

Industry wants to use irradiation to kill foodborne pathogens - invented as a Star Wars technology

US Education bases supply on lowest price which will generally have pathogens. Dateline exposed the corruption of selling dead and diseased meat

You are better off eating a carrot stick that fell in your toilet, then one that fell in your sink

In ten years, McDonalds grew from 3M stores outside the US to 15M stores outside the US

IBP has control of the beef industry in Canada

The US has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation

McLean deluxe had seaweed in it

Kids cannot shake the addiction of fat greasy foods - stays with them into adulthood

280M Americans die every year from being overweight

McDonald’s plant spies in groups that protest against them

Cattle that grow old and weak are eaten by coyotes - natural food chain

Annual cost of obesity is twice the cost of fast food revenues

Have to find a balance between efficiency and amorality

There is a struggle to curtail excessive power

Need a ban on advertising of unhealthy products to kids

Eliminate tax breaks and subsidies that are being manipulated by corporations

Fix up the slaughterhouses so that lives are not injured or lost

McDonalds uses the polysterene overseas - no care for the environment at all - North American strategy was a response to bad publicity

Pink-grapefruit juice gets its color from puréed Peruvian bugs!! Gobsmacked.

“Cochineal extract (also known as carmine or carminic acid) is made from the desiccated bodies of female Dactylopius coccus Costa, a small insect harvested mainly in Peru and the Canary Islands. The bug feeds on red cactus berries, and color from the berries accumulates in the females and their unhatched larvae. The insects are collected, dried, and ground into a pigment. It takes about 70,000 of them to produce a pound of carmine, which is used to make processed foods look pink, red, or purple. Dannon strawberry yogurt gets its color from carmine, and so do many frozen fruit bars, candies, and fruit fillings, and Ocean Spray pink-grapefruit juice drink.”


This and other fascinating facts made many chapters unexpectedly fun to read. Great investigative journalism.

Worth it just for the enthusiastic and riveting section on french fries, and the incredible machine that makes them (part of it is like a fire hose that shoots potatoes instead of water, shoots them projectile style into razor sharp blades, cutting into fries....fascinating!) as well as the section on flavor and smell, and the scientists, volatile fluid chemists.

I did skim some bits or skip ... anything on animals has become too difficult for me.

But overall informative, at times mind boggling and reading was more fun, and less horrifying then I would have expected. (But I’ve read some pretty tense books on vegan ethics.)

Overall fairly fascinating read, must have info for all.


4 french fries.

Very readable non-fiction. Interesting, fascinating at times. Disgusting facts of reality at others, you'd rather not know, if you are a fast food eater ( as I have been for most of my adult life). Discusses much more than just the core of the fast food industry- the food & it's processing and implications for health. Looks at the impact of the industry on business models, working conditions, suburban sprawl, environment, etc. Lots of food for thought, pardon the pun.

Fantastic book. Why did I take so long to read it? Published in 2001. What has happened in the last 20 years. Do food producers care so little about people that they allow these things to happen? The processing is so fast in meat packing plants that 1 of 3 workers get injured every year? That the producers fight laws that make food safe to eat? That the government allows bad meat to be delivered to schools? That proper training is not given to workers? This book is an eye opener to me and should be a must read. I knew that Fast Food eating leads to obesity. But it is ridiculous what some fast food chains are putting on their menus now. Let's pile on the calories. Hope there will be a sequel giving us an update on this situation.