Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth about a Food Chain Gone Haywire

by Nicols Fox

Book Overview

Despite frequent media accounts of such unpleasant matters as mad cow disease and outbreaks of food poisoning at fast-food restaurants, Nicols Fox argues, we know too little about the threat that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 014027555X
• ISBN13: 9780140275551
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 434 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Will change the way you eat

This book is a brilliant investigation into the present state of our food supply. Many of us have read scattered news items about food poisoning outbreaks here and there, but have never really noticed what's been happening to our food supply. In this book, Fox brings together hundreds of stories of outbreaks, and through them, brings the elusive big picture into focus. Fox takes us behind the burger counters back to the factory farm, where chickens are sick, and cows are fattened up on the dung and bedding from the sick chickens. The manure from the chicken-dung eating cows is spread on apple orchards, and all of the sudden organic apple cider must be pasteurized to kill the e. coli. Before reading this book, I wondered why eating raw cookie dough never made me sick as a child, but now we're cautioned never even to consider such dangerous habits. As Fox explains, eating raw eggs wasn't dangerous before, but thanks to modern agribusiness practices, chickens have salmonella in their ovaries, so all eggs must be assumed to be tainted As a result, the only safe egg these days is one whose yolk is cooked solid- -eating eggs sunny-side up is akin to Russian roulette. Fox's main message is that it is vitally important to know who grew your food and how, as well as who cooked your food. If you choose to eat meat, you should know where the meat came from. In the interests of making a profit, factory farms feed meat and milk animals waste products including diseased animal parts and dung. Even if the animals are able to digest such a diet, bacteria and other pathogens from such a diet eventually end up on our plates. Hamburger meat is exceptionally risky since a single pound can include meat from hundreds of individual cows, and if any one of those hundreds carries a pathogen, the entire lot of meat will be tainted. The only way to be reasonably sure of getting healthy meat is to purchase it from a farmer that you know, someone whose farm you can visit in person. Meanwhile, food handlers and preparers seem to be less and less familiar with basic rules of food safety. Fox mentions supermarket workers who don't know the dangers of dented or bulging cans, and teenagers earning minimum wage frying meat at burger joints who have never cooked anything before in their lives. She stresses how important it is not to assume that food is safe just because it is on sale. Sure, the USDA, FDA, and threat of lawsuits give the consumer some protection, but a lawsuit is of little use in bringing a child back to life after a little case of food poisoning.Living in Dubai, my husband and I experience at least one incidence of food poisoning per month, despite being cautious about where and what we eat. We have learned to inspect every package carefully in the supermarket, considering the country of origin, the condition of the container, and the manner in which the goods are stored. In restaurants, we choose our food not by what looks tastiest, but instead

A thorough and detailed work

I have just read this book - it took me almost four months. The thoroughness and attention to detail held me spellbound throughout. Future readers must be prepared to read, enjoy, savour and ABSORB this book to give it its just desserts. Ms. Fox throws buckets of icy water into our faces to cause us to think about the food we eat. I will not become a vegetarian - as she has - because man is by nature and heritage a carnivore. Besides she cites as many - if not more - problems with fruit, vegetables (especially raw)and their juices as with meats, which we must learn better to prepare. Certainly a (pre)cautionary tale for all!

Important reading for everyone.

I found out about the book because it was referenced at the end of Robin Cook's book Toxin. The author gives detailed accounts of numerous outbreaks of contaminated food. She shows that what we were lead to believe was an isolated incident, is not an isolated incident. I was amazed to find out that Russia demanded higher standards for the chickens that are shipped to their country, but as American citizens we have not asked for higher standards.She points out that consumers have been blamed for not using proper food handling when in fact the food producer is at fault for not providing safe food.While I really liked the book, I gave it only 4 stars because at times the book can be a little too detailed. I found it difficult to keep reading the book at times.

What You Don't Know Will Hurt You

Fox's well-researched book is shocking. Mad Cow Disease is a trivial problem compared to some of the others revealed in this fascinating investigation into the underbelly and oversights of America's food industry.But also check out Peter Phillips' CENSORED 1999's top censored news story for an additional jolt: a government near you soon will be wholly beholden to any corporation which chooses to violate the already-established food laws. If the powers that be get their way, the stories in fox's SPOILED will be barely the tip of the iceberg in a few short years.Wake up, America! Read this book and raise some hell! How? Call your local, state, and federal representatives and tell them you're not going to take it any longer!

SPOILED; responsible journalism about food

Thank you Nicols Fox for writing this book. It is a work of human ecology, showing the connections among a complex set of factors linking humans with nature. Unlike a theoretical work, this book describes a particular industry and its problems, making the lessons in ecology come alive.(P) I didn't rate it a 10 because sometimes the text changes subject abruptly and one chapter, on Mad Cow disease is a little weak, but this is a great book. The author strikes a good balance between technical detail and readability. She shows how every step in the process of delivering food to consumers matters- such as the ground the animals are raised on, the food they eat, the way they are slaughtered and procesed, the way they are packaged, the transportation to the market- any of these steps and more can lead to a pathogen on the loose.(P) Growing up in America of the 1950's, I believed in the cleanliness of American industry. Reading this book is a re-education into the secrets behind the cheapest food on earth. The stories of the USDA remind me of the NRC- the way the NRC advocated for nuclear power rather than for public health. Like the NRC, which carried on without a plan for displosal of toxic waste, the food industry appears to have no plan for disposal of its toxic waste other than rendering carcasses and recycling them into feed, thereby intensifying the problem. The story of denial in the industry and Washington is fascinating.(P) The reader should push on to the end of this book for the author does not succumb to negative thinking, but maintains a positive tone. With the help of information such as this book contains, we can make choices in what we eat that industry may take note of