What’s in the Meat We Eat? 

That is a question that a lot of people ask themselves when they think of going to a fast food restaurant or purchasing meat from the supermarket. In my research I have uncovered some surprising facts about what goes into the meat that is used in fast food and the meat that is placed for sale in a supermarket.

The fast food industry spends a lot of money on advertising its products. Its marketing is geared towards young adults and children. In the book Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser goes into detail about how Walt Disney and Ray Kroc joined McDonalds and Disney in the promotion of not only toys but also games and locations of McDonalds, placing a few of the restaurants near Disney locations.

It is these promotions and type of advertising that make it seem like McDonalds is a wholesome and good all American food. It has been very effective as McDonalds is now one of the largest fast food restaurants in the world. It has expanded into dozens of countries.

In the book Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser focuses on only a few of the fast food restaurants in the United States and abroad. When in fact most of these restaurants now get their meat, fries and shake mixes from a few central suppliers.

In the case of Fast Food restaurants the food passes thru a lot of people before it reaches the customer. In the book Fast Food nation Eric Schlosser focuses on the food that is served in the restaurants. He focuses on the workers in the restaurants and the trucks supplying the food to these restaurants. I believe that you can take every precaution with workers and trucks that transport the food safely and you can still end up with contaminated food.

Even with safeguards that are put into place a lot can go wrong from when the meat is processed until it reaches the consumer.

In doing my research I have found that there are many ways for meat or any type of food to become contaminated.

As with anything that comes into contact with multiple people and machines and transportation you run the risk of contamination. The meat can be perfectly fine all along every step. However if you put a piece of lettuce on the meat that has been handled by someone who is ill or who has not followed proper handwashing you will have contaminated meat, it may then show up as contaminated meat when in fact it may have had nothing to do with how the meat was processed or handled prior to arriving at the restaurant and being served to the customer. The meat could also become contaminated.