What's Really In Your Fast Food?
Where Fast Food Comes From
A study released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences contained controversial claims about menu items served at McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger Kings across the nation. Using a technique that identifies carbon and nitrogen isotopes in meat, co-authors A. Hope Jahren and Rebecca Kraft tried to determine the animals' diets and in what conditions they were raised.
Industrial Farm Animal Production
In the 1950s, the advent of nitrogen-based fertilizer allowed farmers to rapidly maximize their output. This was particularly true of corn crops. In 1940, a farmer could expect 70 to 80 bushels of corn per acre. Today, that number has reached 200 bushels. This corn, in turn, has been used to feed livestock and poultry for quick and efficient growth. In 2007, the U.S. produced 48.7 billion pounds of commercial red meat, 90.6 billion eggs and 8.1 billion chickens, according to the USDA.
About the Study
The study's findings are based on samples of 480 servings of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and fries purchased from McDonald's, Burger King (nyse: BKC - news - people ) and Wendy's chains. The authors, who were unpaid, purchased the samples from three restaurants per chain in six U.S. cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Detroit, Boston and Baltimore. Once purchased, the samples were freeze-dried and tested for carbon and nitrogen isotopes over a two-year period.
Hamburgers
Based on the carbon isotopic signatures found in the sample meat, the study's authors argue that the cattle had been strictly confined and fed predominantly corn. Samples from Burger King showed the greatest variability, indicating that some cattle may have eaten natural vegetation or other feeds instead. The nitrogen isotopic ratios were much higher than ones found in grass-fed and free-range beef. The authors attributed these findings to feed produced with nitrogen fertilizer and severe containment conditions.
Chicken Sandwiches
The authors found widespread homogeneity of chicken samples across chains. The chickens used were predominantly corn-fed. While the chicken samples had lower nitrogen levels than beef, the authors argue that they remained high enough to demonstrate that the poultry had been raised in extreme confinement.
French Fries
Samples of French fries revealed that the restaurant chains are using one frying oil or a combination of oils despite claims stating otherwise. Wendy's, for example, claims their fries may contain one or more of canola, soy, cottonseed or corn oil. In fact, the study's findings pointed to a nationwide "corn-oil based protocol" for fries.
Is Fast Food Safe?
The study does not make any claims about the healthfulness of corn or nitrogen. To be clear, the consumption of animals that subsist on corn diets and have minimal nitrogen byproducts in their tissues has not been proven unsafe. The point of the study, says its authors, is to draw attention to the food production process.
What the Results Mean
In some ways, the results aren't very controversial. We already know that industrial farm animals subsist primarily on a corn diet and are kept in confined spaces. The results were uniform across geography and chains, indicating the same feed and confinement approaches. But the results also showed that certain restaurants used different french fry oils than reported. Worse yet, the authors suggested that the nitrogen isotope signatures for certain meat products were consistent with such environments where animals had consumed their own waste.
What the Study Leaves Out
The study did not evaluate levels of hormones, antibiotics, heavy metals and pesticides. Some health experts argue that these substances, which are used in industrial farm animal production, pose a serious risk to public health. A 2008 report issued by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production linked the rise of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria to the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in farm animals. It also reported on previous findings that animals in confined settings are more likely to contract and spread a disease.
Criticism of the Study
Dr. Frank Monahan, a scientist at University College Dublin, called Jahren's approach scientifically sound, but he questioned the conclusiveness of the study's findings. The levels of nitrogen, he says, may not be directly linked to confinement practices. Instead, they may reflect that most conventionally raised beef and poultry are given feed that was grown with nitrogen-enriched fertilizer. And while the high levels of carbon 13 indicate a diet abundant with corn, Monahan says the results are not as conclusive as the authors suggest.
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Furmanorange 01:08:39 AM Dec 08 2008
well all i have to say about McDonalds in Orange, Va is that i will never eat there again. i use to take my Choc Lab there to get ice cream 4 times a month, and one day 2 weeks ago i thought i would get 2 cheese burgers to eat while driving home the 1st one tasted great. but the 2nd one well lets just say it had some special sause on it. and it was not no sause that McDonalds uses. and i will never ever eat fast food again. and the dog will get ice cream at home. McDonaolds in Orange, Va Sucks
ChristieLLaRash 04:08:03 AM Dec 02 2008
no offense but seriously people? where is your common sense? of course fast food is ****. of course there are nasty things in it. just look at the meat, it's mostly fat. chemicals and what not, i don't know, but if you're okay with eating that much fat in between two buns, then you should be fine with the chemicals. but **** capitalism. get off your asses, go buy something at the grocery store for the same price and make it. do you know what the hormone rbst is? some dumbass made it to increase milk production in cows (mind you, we already have a massive overproduction of milk, the government literally pays people to NOT produce milk) and what it does is makes the utters swell to five times the size, creating a strange inner lining of puss. when the cow is milked, the puss is milked. they basically just scrape the puss off the top and bottle it. look for milk cheese and other dairy products that say from cows not treated with the hormone rbst. it's a sick reality but most things you bu
Bwar35 03:36:36 AM Dec 02 2008
In the end nothing matters, the universe will one day cease to exist, and all the worrying will be over. In a way we are cruel we eat meat, and meat comes from living breathing animals. We are no different. its like when the lion eats the human, I see nothing wrong in that, Evreything needs to eat. Just imagine if people ate people, oh yeah they do in North korea, and some other places. Imagine eating all the rich jerks who have stolen all your money in the stock market; well bon appetite.
Abdalelah5 03:09:19 AM Dec 02 2008
LIES LIES LIES i cant believe u guys believe this u guys must be idiots
GinaCaramella 02:39:25 AM Dec 02 2008
its very sad that ppl dont even care about others, animals and ppl just to satify what they want with no regard for how it came to be. animals trapped in crates waiting to be slaughtered is their life and why, so some fat bastard can stuff his face or some spoiled kid eats half of it and throws the rest away when an animal died for that. ppl dont apprecaite anything. it makes me lose my faith in humanity. everyone is selfish. where is the love
GinaCaramella 02:36:01 AM Dec 02 2008
the sad thing is how no one cares about anyone but themselves and feeding the physical desires with no regard to other beings, ppl and animals. that is what makes me lose faith in humanity. animals in crates waiting to be slaughtered so some fat bastard can stuff his face or some spoiled kid can eat half of it and throw the rest in the garbage when a being died for that. that sucks. everyone wasting and out for themselves not caring about who suffers so they can ot even appreciate it.
TedC1560 02:19:11 AM Dec 02 2008
Theres never any real truth to this study. Everyone (including Forbes) is paid by the BIG conglomerate fast food empires. No one really knows what we're eating. Unless you grow it yourself, you really can't be sure what you're eating. I also believe that we are a paranoid nation. If we only excercise and eat in moderation, we would improve our health. But, we are AMERICANS. This is our culture. We will never change. We love to eat ANYTHING and lots of it. And thats where the money is.
BKSS 01:26:32 AM Dec 02 2008
What's really in your fast food ? DEAD ANIMALS, isn't it ?
duckhookmaster1 01:25:53 AM Dec 02 2008
It's too bad that the reason we're all dying from disease now days is really because of all the crap in the food that OUR goverment provides for us. I hate to see people uninformed and naive to this issue that has been plaging our country for so long. There's the answer to all of the medical mysteries. Stop eating crap!What ever gave you the idea that the government provides products to fast food restaurants? Sounds like your the one that's uninformed and naive.
BKSS 01:25:03 AM Dec 02 2008
Meat is eating dead animals. Doesn't matter if you are skinny or fat, your tummy is a graveyard of dead animals. Instead of blaming anybody, humans should blame themselves. member, ReAfter all "You are What You Eat" and not what the animals eat. So next time think before you make your tummy a graveyard of dead animals. Eat healthy, Eat GREEN !
