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He witnesses the greed and corruption in the industry and the deterioration of the lives of many workers. He is also shocked by the unhealthy handling of the meat. The novel presents graphic descriptions of diseased animals and rotting meat being sold to the American public.

While cataloguing assorted evils with the tenacity and sharp eye of the best investigative journalist, he uncovers a cynical, dismissive attitude to food safety in the fast food industry and widespread circumvention of the government's efforts at regulation

As deregulation diminished governmental standards and inspection, managers have ratcheted up line speeds, increasing the splattering of fecal and stomach matter and spreading food-borne illnesses like E. coli. This deadly threat, described by journalist Eric Schlosser in his popular book Fast Food Nation, is microbial and invisible, but every bit as much a consequence of profit maximization as the unwholesome practices exposed by Sinclair a century ago. If there is a silver lining, it is that this time around the interests of labour and consumers cannot be easily divided. Speed-up and unsanitary working conditions — two critical issues for meat-packing workers — are directly linked to consumers' health concerns.

This deadly threat, described by journalist Eric Schlosser in his popular book Fast Food Nation, is microbial and invisible, but every bit as much a consequence of profit maximization as the unwholesome practices exposed by Sinclair a century ago. If there is a silver lining, it is that this time around the interests of labour and consumers cannot be easily divided. Speed-up and unsanitary working conditions — two critical issues for meat-packing workers — are directly linked to consumers' health concerns.

Such cutthroat business practices ultimately have the twofold effect of hurting workers while also poisoning the meat with the cow’s own feces, which leads to the outbreak of E. coli bacteria illnesses.

According to an alternative version, high-pressure marketing promotes junk food that makes everyone fat, resulting from the heartless unloading of unskilled and dangerous work on youthful racial minorities.

Americans spend more money on fast food than on books, movies, videos, records and magazines combined - more than $110 billion in 2000

Last July, he filed a class action lawsuit claiming that the fast food industry failed to inform consumers that its products are high in fat, salt, sugar and cholesterol and failed to warn consumers that these ingredients are dangerous to their health.

nother class action suit against the fast food industry was filed on behalf of teenaged plaintiffs. This suit claimed that the fast food industry unfairly targets children with toy promotions and child- friendly advertising so as to addict children to fast food at an early age.

Meatpacking workers tend to be the most vulnerable of the vulnerable: mostly non-unionized, mostly poor white and Mexican, often undocumented, easy prey for a meatpacking industry that doesn't shy away from intimidation.

role in spreading beef-borne pathogens--particularly the deadly E. coli 0157:H7--and its attempts to skirt government oversight

This text's effort to expose the deadly living and working conditions of the immigrants in Chicago's stockyards and meatpacking factories was co-opted by the consumer movement's campaign for protective legislation and led to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.