The Food Industry Campaign to Undermine 'Chew On This'

Sections of the food industry have launched a major PR campaign aimed at countering the impact of the book "Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food" by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson. They have launched a website titled Best Food Nation.

"Who's After Schlosser" is an article in the in 5/15/06 Advertising Age. [1] reporting that "The site Best Food Nation was registered on May 3 to Charlie Arnot, president of CMA Consulting, Kansas City, Mo., an issues management, public relations and communications firm. Mr. Arnot is a long-time pork industry consultant and worked for Premium Standard Farms. Best Food Nation has links to groups such as the American Council on Science and Health , which at one time received 40% of its funding from companies including Burger King, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Co. Fasttalknation.com says it's sponsored by TCSDaily.com, a Web site of Tech Central Station, published by public and government affairs firm DCI Group, Washington, DC. On the TCS site, it lists "a small group of sponsors," including the American Beverage Association, McDonald's Corp., ExxonMobil, General Motors Corp. and Merck." Here is the attack on Schlosser on Tech Central Station's website, a website funded in part by McDonald's: [2]

The Book That Sparked The Food Industry's Fury

• Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson, "Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food", Houghton Mifflin, May 2006. ISBN 0618710310

Other SourceWatch Resources

• Best Food Nation
• Becky Johnson
• Charlie Arnot
• Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food
• Eric Schlosser
• Fast Food Nation
• Front groups
• McDonald's
• Tech Central Station
• Third party technique
• Charles Wilson

External links

• Cheyrl V. Jackson, "Author talking turkey about fast food, kids", Chicago Sun-Times, May 10, 2006.
• Jay Lehr, "Don't Know Nothing About Fast Food", Media Release, Heartland Institute, May 5, 2006.
• Andrew Martin, "Fast-food foe feeds views to students: Middle schoolers in Glen Ellyn go `Ewwww'", Chicago Tribune, May 11, 2006.
• John Stauber, Food Flack Nation Attacks Journalist Eric Schlosser, PRWatch.com, May 11, 2006.
• Julie Just, "An Interview With Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson", New York Times, May 14, 2006.
• "Fast-food author gives kids something to chew on", St Paul Pioneer Press, May. 12, 2006.
• Abby McGanney Nolan, "Greasy Kids Stuff", Washington Post, May 14, 2006.
• "Who's After Schlosser", Advertising Age, May 15, 2006.
• New Book by Eric Schlosser More Fiction than Fact, Pizza Marketing Quarterly, May 16, 2006.
• Janet Adamy and Richard Gibson, Flak Over 'Fast Food Nation' U.S. Food Manufacturers Rally To Oppose a Film and a Book That Blame Them for Obesity, Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2006.
• Edward Helmore, "Fast-food giants feeling heat from the film of the book: As a critical movie about burger-makers is premiered, the industry is staging a fightback", The Observer (UK), May 21, 2006.
• Joel McNally, "Fast food giants target truth of 'Chew on This'", Capital Times, May 19, 2006.
• Craig Winneker A Whiff of Anti-Americanism, Tech Central Station, May 30, 2006.