US History II: Fast Food Nation Excerpt:

“What’s In the Meat?”

  1. Despite fears he was dying, Lee Harding remained at home suffering his abdominal cramps. Why did he stay at home, what did he want?
  1. What is Escherichia coli 0157:H7?
  1. What name was written on the red, white and blue box in Harding’s freezer?
  1. What was the primary reason the Hudson Food Plant had been built in Columbus, Nebraska?
  1. What did a modern factory designed to mass produce food mass produce instead?
  1. Approximately how many pounds of the infected meat was recovered?
  1. Using the figures provided by the author, how many Americans die after ingesting a food-borne pathogen each month?
  1. According to recent studies what can precipitate a neurological problem, heart disease or an auto-immune disorder?
  1. What is the essential danger presented by an industrialized and centralized system of food processing?
  1. Scientists believe that the first cases of AIDS date back to what decade, at least?
  1. How many packinghouses now slaughter most of the beef consumed in the USA?
  1. Can the federal government order a meatpacking company to remove contaminated meat from fast food kitchens?
  1. In a 1996 USDA study, what percentage of processed meat was found to contain microbes spread by contact with fecal material?
  1. “Selling Em by the Sack” is a history of what business franchise, the nation’s first hamburger chain?
  1. In the 1990s the average American ate how many hamburgers a week?
  1. How many heart attacks did Lauren Beth Rudolph suffer before dying on December 28th, 1992? How old was she when she died?
  1. Between 1992 and 2000 how many Americans have died as a result of consuming meat bearing the E. coli 0157.H7 pathogen?
  1. What would Nancy Donley have done to save Alex’s life?
  1. How many organisms of salmonella must you ingest to become sick? How many E.coli 0157.H7 must you ingest to risk life-threatening illness?
  1. How long can E.coli survive in animal manure?
  1. Aside from poultry, name two other animals that the FDA permits to be rendered into cattle feed.
  1. A single worker at a “gut table” may eviscerate how many cattle an hour?
  1. What type of cattle does McDonald’s rely heavily on for their hamburger meat supply?
  1. Upton Sinclair noted the use of two chemicals employed by the Beef Trust to eliminate the odor of spoiled meat. What were they?
  1. What event led to the abandonment of the SIS-C system in 1993?
  1. What seemed essential for the survival of the Jack in the Box franchise?
  1. What senator received the most money from the meat-packing industry between 1987 and 1996?
  1. The Hudson Beef company voluntarily recalled how many pounds of beef on August 12th of 1997? By August 21st the poundage of recalled beef had grown to?
  1. What office did Dan Glickman hold in 1997?
  1. According to Federal inspectors, in the wrong hands HACCP stands for what?
  1. What expensive cabinets has IBP introduced at all of its slaughterhouses?
  1. What does the USDA and the meatpacking industry want to do to solve the problem of food-borne pathogens?
  1. What is a “radura”?
  1. The meat packing industry is working hard to replace the word “irradiate” with what phrase?
  1. The most questionable ground beef in the US was distributed, for years, to what eating venues by the USDA?
  1. How many times was Northern States Beef cited for “critical violations” of food safety?
  1. The article’s use of the term “downer” is used to describe?
  1. For what entity is the meatpacking industry willing to perform rigorous testing for food-borne pathogens?
  1. Who discovered more fecal bacteria in the average American kitchen sink than on the average American toilet seat?
  1. What should be mandatory for fast-food workers according to Dr. Griffin?
  1. What is the problem that afflicts the milk-shake machine in the McDonalds restaurant in Colorado Springs?