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Eric Schlosser

Eric Schlosser, the journalist who wrote Fast Food Nation, exposed the meatpacking industry for its unethical practices through his book and eventually through the film birthed from his research. Schlosser is no vegetarian, having admitted that he is a born and bred American whose favorite meal is a cheeseburger and French fries. However, since the research he conducted about meatpacking and food safety, he has become critical of their methods and careful about what he consumes. Schlosser has written smaller works complementing Fast Food Nation, and in his articles, "How to Make the Country's Most Dangerous Job Safer," "Hamburger with Those Fries? Buyers Beware," and "Order the Fish," he discusses the danger meatpacking poses to its workers and to consumers and the carelessness with which the meat is regulated, so that the public may protect itself.

In the article, "How to Make the Country's Most Dangerous Job Safer," Schlosser discusses the danger meatpacking poses to its workers and proposes a solution to the problem. Slaughterhouses have long been found guilty of malpractices regarding handling and production of meat, treatment of animals, cleanliness of the work areas, and treatment of the workers. In the past, McDonald's has stepped up in light of some of the complaints against the meatpacking industry after it was suggested to maintain practices similar to those of its meat suppliers. In these cases, McDonald's adjusted its own employee policies, but more importantly, it began to require its suppliers to handle the animals in the slaughterhouses humanely under "the threat that McDonald's would stop buying meat" from them ("How to Make"). This threat "changed many of the industry's practices within a year," ("How to Make") and the meatpacking companies began to use their own auditors to inspect the treatment of animals. Schlosser then equated the mistreatment of animals with the meatpacking workers. Where the animals' mistreatment came in the alarming consciousness they possessed while being dismembered, the workers' mistreatment came most specifically in the amount of injuries acquired by line workers due to the fast pace of the slaughter lines. Meatpacking is considered to be the occupation with the highest rate of on-the-job injury in the country, with workers suffering ailments ranging from lacerations to back injuries. Where the cause of the mistreatment of workers is the same as the cause of the mistreatment of the animals, Schlosser proposes the same solution. Excessive lines speeds in the packinghouses is the cause of both animal and worker mistreatment. But to address the problem of unethical worker treatment, Schlosser indicates that "If McDonald's were to insist that the large meat-packers improve working conditions and reduce injury levels, they would immediately do so" ("How to Make"). McDonald's is one of the meatpacking industry's largest clients, and if McDonald's should again threaten to cease purchasing product from the meatpackers who continue to maintain excessive line speeds, Schlosser seems to have little doubt that the meatpackers would comply.

Perhaps also a result of line speeds, the contamination of meat has lately become a real concern, and in "Hamburger with Those Fries? Buyers Beware," Schlosser discusses meat contamination and warns buyers that their kitchen practices may be their only protection from infection. Where in the previous article, Schlosser was concerned with the effect mistreatment had upon the animals and the workers, he is now concerned with the effect that mishandling will have upon consumers. This article, written in 2002, summarizes an outbreak of salmonella and e. coli that occurred within the space of the same week in June. These two pathogens cause serious illnesses, and have even been known to be fatal. Unfortunately, these pathogens were released to the public in the form of tainted meat, due to a lack of proper meatpacking regulations. When meatpacking practices have been called into question, their defenders reason that these pathogens are "naturally occurring organisms" and that because "proper cooking can kill" these organisms, they are not a cause for concern ("Hamburger with Those"). This may be true, but Schlosser implies that it should be up to the meat packers to protect their consumers rather than making consumers responsible for protecting themselves. Schlosser emphasizes his point by recognizing Supreme Beef Processors, "one of the main suppliers of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program" ("Hamburger with Those"), as a company who repeatedly failed food safety testing and opposed further testing and regulations. In this case, the ultimate subjects of improper handling are children, who can have no control over (or even awareness of) the proper handling of their food, and who are also the age group most susceptible to illnesses caused by these pathogens. Compounding the problem was the Bush administration's "deference to the meatpacking industry" ("Hamburger with Those"). In the end, it became legal to sell tainted beef. In his closing arguments, Schlosser encouraged consumers to be careful of their handling and cooking of ground beef, at least while the industry continues to resist further regulation.