1. - Dangers of Fast Food
Background
Mc Donald’s introduced the factory system to food production and they wanted to produce uniform
and cheap food.
NOW . . .“We’ve got the fattest, least fit generation of kids, ever.” Why? Who is to blame? Is it
personal responsibility or the fast food companies?
The Problem
• 1 in 5 US schools sell branded name Fast Food
• Mc Donald’s are the largest purchaser of ground beef, pork, chicken, lettuce, apples and tomatoes –
so they control the 80% of food production within four companies.
• Mc Donald’s influence politicians in order to stop policies that harm themselves.
• Mc Donald’s has a huge overseas market and it is often the target for anti- American feeling and
attacks.
• 98% High Schools have soda machines, candy machines and sell foods high in sugar, fat and salt –
schools depend on the money generated from sales.
• Americans eat 13 billion hamburgers per year and if you lay these out in a straight line they would
circle the Earth 32 times.
• Mc Donald’s sell or give away 1.5 billion toys every year. They spend billions on advertising,
mascots and cartoon characters to entice their audience to buy fast food.
• 19080s Mc Donald’s largest producer of satellite photos so they can choose perfect locations of
restaurants near to schools and traffic networks.
• Hamburgers got bigger in 1957 weighed 1oz and now they are 6ozs.
• 50 million Americans are obese and a further 6 million are morbidly obese.
Why is this a problem?
Physical Health Risks
• Obese people are 2-3 times more likely to die young. Being obese early changes the body
chemistry and it is more difficult to be thin. More fat cells make the body vulnerable to disease.
• Sugar in soda causes a loss in calcium and tooth decay – increases chances of osteoporosis.
• Obese patients have gastric bypass surgery – a costly and risky operation.
• Teenagers left with poor self image and they are often teased and bullied for being overweight
can lead to depression.

2. • Heart disease and high blood pressure caused by hardened arteries from increased fat (worst
kind is called trans fat – a man made artificial one that increases the life of processed foods,
contained in fast food, cookies, cakes) and they can block and cause a heart attack.
• Blood vessels thicken and narrow which limits blood reaching the brain and can damage the
brain.
• Liver becomes full of fat and fails to functions. It is the largest organ in the body and it digests
fat, stores vitamins and maintains blood sugar levels.
• Development of diabetes type 2 – harmful to circulation, kidney failure and heart disease
Food Safety Dangers
• Hamburgers contain meat from hundreds/thousands cows
• Slaughterhouse lagoons containing raw sewage smell bad and often leak into rivers and
streams and they can kill fish and emit harmful gases that cause health problems to the local
population.
• Health concerns of contaminated food from E.Coli which is caused by animals eating dirty food
and drinking dirty water.
• Include artificial flavouring and colouring and high levels of salt, sugar and fat and use of highly
refined carbohydrates in their foods.
Poor Farming Practices
• Chicken farming – birds are raised and slaughtered in half the time – redesigned the chicken to
have large breasts. Often painful to walk and can have heart attacks.
• Cruel practices are present in slaughterhouses.
• Companies own the birds and not the farmers and many farmers are left with thousands of
dollars of debt.
Poor Employment Practices
• Dangerous working conditions are present in slaughterhouses, involving cuts, amputations and
injuries.
• Mc Job can be defined as a low paid job with little opportunity to get ahead.
• Job characteristically has long hours, lack of health insurance
The Solution
Fast food companies can behave responsibly – examples of a company called Burgerville that use
fresh, local ingredients, pay workers well and give them benefits, include seeds and gardening tools as
a free gift to kids.
All Excerpts taken from
Book Schlosser.E & Wilson.C, 2006 Chew On this, Houghton Mifflin
Film DVD Food Inc.