Fast Food Nation Chapter 9: what’s in the meat

Fast Food NationChapter 9: what’s in the meat Eric Meyer and Libby Millsap

Sickness • Every day in the U.S. 200,00 people are sickened by a food borne disease • 900 are hospitalized • 14 die • More than ¼ of the population suffers from food poisoning every year

The effects • Many food borne pathogens can precipitate long-term ailments • Heart disease • Inflammatory bowel disease • Neurological problems • Autoimmune disorders • Kidney damage

Where they come from • Rises in food borne illnesses have been caused by many complex factors, much of the increase can be attributed to how American food is produced • The rise of huge feedlots, slaughterhouses, and hamburger grinders causes E. coli to become widely dispersed throughout the U.S. • To provide massive amounts of uniform ground beef so that all McDonald’s hamburgers would taste the same has proven to spread many diseases

Transmission • Person-to-person transmission is responsible for a significant proportion of E. coli illnesses • About 10% of people sickened during the Jack in the Box outbreak didn’t eat contaminated hamburgers, but were infected by somebody else • It is easily spread through poor hygiene • An infected person remains contagious for approximately two weeks • Extreme cases can last two to four months

Fast Food Nation Chapter 9: what’s in the meat