The Meat Lobby: Big Business Against Health?
This documentary looks at the meat production process behind the delicious, pink and juicy commercial staple so many of us love. The point is that ham and some other meats are injected with sodium nitrite, which can have adverse side effects on the body. We see how meat is processed and hear from scientists who study the effects of the substance and even protest its use, but we also hear from those who have spoken out in support of its continued use.
Some companies are able to produce sterile meat without the addition of harmful nitrites in the production process. So, what motivates some meat producers to process meat the way they do, despite studies showing that consuming nitrites can cause various types of cancer?
In some countries, such as Denmark, expert studies and even court rulings exist, but regulations are not in place to prevent producers from prioritizing public health over profits.
The information presented in the document spans multiple countries and institutions. But it seems that no matter how close governments come to enacting a policy to ban nitrites, they always miss the mark somehow.
Researchers who discover a link between this meat and cancer are often discredited or, for one reason or another, reluctant to pursue it. A closer look at this trend can reveal why some industry players are interested in keeping nitrite-packed meat on the market.
It’s interesting to see the media working together to advance someone’s agenda in the process, using doubt as a powerful weapon. They show how people who are supposed to look out for the public can somehow become convinced that they are acting against their own best interests.
It takes a comprehensive look at a complex subject, offering insight into a problem that seems to have an easy solution at the level of the individual shopper, but weighing the power of the individual consumer against the major media and meat industries shows that It may not be that easy.
Directed by: Guillaume Coudray, Sandrine Rigaud
