Several radio speeches mentioned Fast Food Nation as giving a chilling picture of fast food cuisine. I went in expecting a long series anecdotes about horrible things happening in the kitchen while you were waiting for a pile of Happy Meals. While there are a few, the book is more about how fast food franchises have changed the way food is produced and managed. Schlosser spends a lot time on meat processing plants. In particular the efforts they make to increase processing speed, and their use of low wage emigrant labor. If you are a parent, you should read about meat purchased by the USDA for schools. In particularly the 1999 case of school lunch ground beef supplier Supreme Beef. USDA inspectors shut down the plant due to continual violations of Salmonella levels. The next day a Texas judge ordered the USDA to re-open the plant. Later the court said the USDA couldn't shut down plants based on Salmonella levels. And you thought the government could help you. The meat you buy today at McDonalds, Burger King, etc. is tested for viral/bacterial contamination. The government has had little success mandating this kind of "scientific" testing. Powerful corporations such as the Iowa Beef Packers lobby hard to maintain "visual only" inspections. It wasn't until the Jack in the Box deaths that fast food companies themselves mandated "scientific" inspections from their suppliers. Beef producers have been very effective in bribing Republicans to avoid across the board testing. Think Phil Gramm the next time you are hurling into a toilet after lunch. As a closing note, I must say his comment about most flavoring added to processed foods coming from chemical plants located off the New Jersey Turnpike gave me a little pause about hitting the freezer section at Safeway.