| The dangers of fast food come in two types. There | | | | getting stored as fat cells or heading right to an artery |
| are the obvious dangers posed by the high fat and | | | | to start clogging it up. |
| calorie content of fast foods. There are also some | | | | Beyond the nutritional problems are another set of |
| hidden dangers rarely considered. | | | | problems. The fast food industry has changed the |
| When a person is told that fast food is not good for | | | | slaughter and meat packing industry. The fast food |
| them from a nutritional point of view, he is hardly | | | | industry needs to produce tremendous amounts of |
| surprised. The relationship between fast food and the | | | | chopped beef for its millions of pre-prepared |
| almost epidemic obesity of the American population is | | | | hamburger patties sold each day. The methods used |
| a fairly well known fact. Still, the factors that make fast | | | | to produce those hamburgers are creating a situation |
| food so popular still seem to be powerful enough to | | | | where meat packing plants are moving away from |
| make the majority of the population ignore the obvious | | | | their former areas where unionized and trained meat |
| risks of poor nutrition and weight problems. Fast food | | | | packers slaughtered animals in a fairly efficient and |
| is easily available, relatively cheap, most people find it | | | | humane manner. The new plants have moved to |
| tasty and filling and it can be purchased fast. | | | | smaller towns where underpaid workers, often |
| There are very few alternatives to the high fat and | | | | immigrants, are slaughtering animals and producing |
| high calorie menus in the fast food restaurants. | | | | meat in an unsafe manner. The dangers of |
| Although many seem to be making some attempt to | | | | contamination of this meat are getting higher and |
| offer low cal alternatives, they end up ruining these | | | | higher. The working conditions are dangerous for the |
| offerings with sauces and dressings loaded with fat | | | | employees as well. |
| content. Even though these alternatives are offered, it | | | | The fast food restaurants are staffed by large |
| is still the hamburger and fried chicken that is the king | | | | numbers of underage workers. In many cases, child |
| of fast food, and little has been done to reduce the | | | | labor laws limiting working hours are ignored, and |
| impact of these foods on obesity. | | | | studies have shown that despite publicity efforts by |
| One of the major culprits in the fast food is the | | | | the fast food industry to show otherwise, these |
| cooking oil used in the preparation of so many of the | | | | workers tend to have higher incidences of drug use |
| foods. This oil is not normal cooking oil, which is full of | | | | and do poorly in school. These social costs of the fast |
| enough fat, but, is generally special hydrogenated | | | | food industry are often overlooked. Finally, if we listen |
| cooking oil that undergoes a process designed to | | | | to the people in the local food and slow food |
| increase its shelf life. This process makes it downright | | | | movements, this whole fascination with fast, fast, and |
| dangerous for human consumption as it produces high | | | | faster is impacting the very quality of human life in a |
| levels of trans fats. These fat compounds are barely | | | | negative fashion. |
| recognizable as food by the human body and end up | | | | |