In the report “Why Mcdonald’s Fries Taste so Good” authored by Eric Schlosser, his overall thesis was to inform his audience that the majority of the food that Americans (and other countries globally) are accustomed to consuming e.g., from fast food restaurants, household food items, and desserts have their own flavor additives that are produced at flavor industries with the sole purpose of mixing chemicals to create particular smells that ultimately influence a unique taste. Schlosser means to enlighten his audience in order to reveal how the components in the food that is eaten on a day-to-day basis are being chemically generated and how. His thesis was effective in the sense that he used an unbiased tone throughout the report to provide …show more content…
He began by giving background information on the products that Mcdonald’s originally used to fry their fries “seven percent cottonseed oil and ninety three percent beef tallow” (Para 3) but the company was criticised for the amount of cholesterol that was in their fries thus causing them to fry them in vegetable oil. Because frying their product changed the flavor, the company turned toward flavor industries to bring back their original flavor. The author uses the information that he gathered by touring the Flavors and Fragrances plant and documenting his experience of learning how certain chemicals are mixed to produce a certain smell/taste that is appealing to consumers “German scientist discovered methyl anthranilate..by accident while mixing chemicals in his laboratory..suddenly the lab was filled with the sweet smell of grapes”(Para 17). From that point forward, food companies turned to flavor additive plants in order to have their products more appealing to
Then instead of slaughtering one cow at a time and grinding that meat into a couple hundred burgers. Slaughterhouses slaughter thousands of cattle and grind all the meat together. Now there is no variation of taste in the meat. Finish the meat off with an acid bath to kill any E. Coli O157: H7, and pray that one of those 1000 cows didn’t have “Mad Cow Disease” (No Known way to kill prions). This power permeates all matters of Fast Food. Fries, soda, buns, equipment, employees, and most influentially: Marketing.
In Jessica Lundgren’s essay, “Eating Fresh” in America: Subway Restaurant’s Nutritional Rhetoric, has stated many different strategies Subway uses in their commercials to persuade consumers that they are choosing the healthier choice when getting food at their fast food restaurants. Americans today are worried about what they can do to lose weight and maintain a good diet. Lundgren did a great job mentioning the five aspects to Subway’s nutritional claims that they follow which includes: the making of nutritional claims, a visual rhetoric that makes the restaurant’s “healthy” food options appear to be numerous and exciting, the comparison of the Subway product with the products of other, less “healthy” fast food restaurants, the clear indication
Throughout the years in the United States, fast food has become the prominent diet of citizens. Many people do not realize the harmful effects of eating fast food on a daily basis. Many people in the United States are use to consuming foods that are processed with sugars and other chemicals, without being aware of eating a unhealthy diet can increase the risks of being obese ;as well as, having numerous health issues. Although people try their best to eat healthy and more productive they do not know what foods to eat or whether if it is healthy for them. In the articles “Don’t Blame the Eater by David Zincekino and “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan. There were a number of similarities and differences in the details highlighted in these two articles.
The author of the article, Michael Moss, is a credible writer because he is the author of Salt Sugar Fat, which became a New York Times bestseller. He spent many years researching, studying, and interviewing in order to obtain enough information to write his book which discusses the factors involving the production of processed food. He
In his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All- American Meal, Eric Schlosser, an investigative journalist, argues that “the fast food industry has helped to transform not only the American diet, but also our landscape, economy, workforce, and popular culture” (3). He supports this claim by first describing the history of the fast food industry, then explaining the current condition of the chemistry and the labor in the industry. Schlosser’s purpose is to inform the consumer and describe the state of the fast food industry in order to call to attention the impacts of the industry on the lives of Americans and on America as a country. He establishes an optimistic tone in the beginning but then develops a gloomy tone for consumers to
The first section of this book traces a meal at McDonalds back to its basic ingredient-corn. From the corn that feeds the chickens to the xanthan gum in the milkshake to the sweetener in the ketchup and oil in which the fries are cooked, McDonalds is mostly corn. Since Fast Food Nation and the other exposes, I don’t think there’s anyone who cares who doesn’t know how gross fast food is, and Pollan admirably stays away from the yuckiest. Instead, he goes to accusing Americans who eat food of having become like koalas, capable of absorbing
Schlosser’s ‘Fast Food Nation’ and Wendell Berry’s ‘The Pleasures of Eating’ have undeniably altered the manner in which I will forever view fast and processed foods. After reviewing the two readings, I am convinced that fast and processed food consumers are the victims of large franchises seeking to make a quick buck at the expense of the consumer’s health. Fast food and processed food consumers are ignorant of the quality of the food that they choose to purchase, solely depending on franchises for the information. Franchisees, on the other hand, choose to conceal this information as revealing it would spell huge losses. They manipulate and decorate food items so as to get consumers to purchase them, with no regard for the health implications they subject their consumers.
All of the options on the menu may seem appetizing to customers, but the secret behind the fast food makes customers rethink their decisions. French fries may seem to solely be hand cut slices of potatoes fried in vegetable oil in a deep fryer, but that is not all that goes into McDonalds French fries. The company adds “artificial flavors” to the oil, but is not specific on what the flavoring itself is. Schlosser and Wilson discover that McDonalds adds beef juice flavoring from the hamburgers to the batch of fries to add a distinguishing factor to their fries, despite advertising them as “vegetarian friendly”. They also use cruel methods to make their infamous chicken nuggets. McDonalds pays butchering farms to kill their chickens with inhumane tactics. Chickens are hung by their feet in chains and then dunk them into a water-filled charged with electricity. Some chickens are not knocked unconscious from this cruel tactic due to moving too much and feel the pain from the next slaughter step, rotating blades. Every chicken is hung upside down, shocked, sliced into pieces, and then boiled in bloody liquid just so that customers can have chicken nuggets that are not even all chicken. They are made with the random pieces of cut up chicken, a sticky glue-like paste, and more “artificial flavors” of beef flavoring. This addition of beef flavoring to the
Approximately ten thousand processed food products are introduced every year in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration does not require flavor companies to disclose the ingredients other additives so long as all the chemicals are considered by the agency to be GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe)” (Schlosser 122-125). With the use of flavor add-ins the fast food industry is been able to make their food cheaper to re-create the same taste we are used to. The author use of logos in the novel only allows for the facts to be stated and
Michael Pollan once said, “In America we eat, collectively with a glum urge for food to fill us. We are ignorant of flavor. We are as a nation taste-blind.” I agree with his statement; fast foods and frozen foods are slowly killing people’s taste buds. Fast and frozen foods leaves our taste buds blind towards true flavor of homemade meals. People need to stop eating foods that are not freshly cooked, and they should start eating foods that are freshly made with rich seasonings. The problem is that people do not take the time to realize that fast and frozen foods are causing them to become blind to the taste of cooked traditional homemade dinners. Americans have to wake up, open their eyes, and spend more time making homemade foods to enjoy the true meaning of flavor. Until then, our nation’s taste buds will be blunted by fast foods and frozen foods.
Howard Moskowitz, a food industry consultant, detailed how to increase the flavor appeal of Dr. Pepper by its consumers, with large amounts sugar. In Prego spaghetti sauce, after tomatoes, sugar was made the next greatest ingredient in amount. The classic Lay’s potato chip brand included many different flavors such as chips with salt & vinegar, salt & pepper, cheddar, and sour cream flavoring. Mr. Moss goes on to describe how Frito-Lay executives hope to develop “designer sodium,” which may decrease the sodium content of their products by a considerable
Chain of Custody Justice is the only achieved if an accurate record of all events is kept from the time of an alleged crime to the completion of trial. One way the investigators maintain the accuracy of that record is ensuring that evidence is collected and stored properly. The attention to accuracy is known as chain of custody. Chain of custody is a set of procedures that accounts for integrity of evidence by tracking its handling and storage from the time it was obtained to the time it was offered at trial (Gardner & Anderson, 2013, p.439).This procedure is very important in any criminal case. The goal for a proper criminal investigation is to keep a tight chain of custody in order for justice to be served.
The greatest disadvantage of the food industry is unhealthy eating. This is derived from high amounts of sodium which can be found in most fast food industries. The manner in which these foods are cooked also plays a pivotal role in the unhealthy aspects of certain menu items. Ingredients which are not understood by consumers who are becoming more health conscious has
The development of fast food was revolutionary; however this revolution was corrupted by big business and their desire to maximize profit. With fast food being a staple for society, due to its convenience, the consumers fail to realize what is inside that burger they are eating. These cost effective additives may be justifiable in a businessman’s perspective but what about the consumer?
The other controversial issue mentioned in the text is the consumer warnings vis-à-vis the acrylamide chemical detected in McDonald’s French fries. However, despite the CSPI’s confirmation that the fries contained very negligible quantities of the carcinogen, McDonald’s image had already been tarnished.