Fast profits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fast profits - Essay Example Since the release of the Jungle, the public responded to the outcry of the novel’s portrayal of the meat industry’s unhealthy practice of selling rotten and diseased meat to unsuspecting and unknowing customers. The putrid meat is masked by shiny, attractive surfaces of the can, thus enabling the customer to be deceived that the meat he is buying is safe and nutritious. Because of this, President Theodore Roosevelt was pressured to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, despite being kept in storage in 1902 and again in 1905. The Beef Inspection Act was also passed in order to have a standard inspection scheme, away from bribery and corruption in the meat packing industry. With these precautionary measures, there is no doubt that the American people regard meat as an essential part of human consumption. And without proper sanitary and packaging regulations, American health is endangered. The book has not only inspired the American public in becoming critical and well-aware of what they eat, it has also triggered the term â€Å"consumerism† up to the time being. The consumerism attitude entails being critical of product labeling, not only for meat but as well as for other products. Furthermore, it has also set standard requirement for all food manufacturers to put â€Å"nutrition facts,† wherein the label includes the nutrients that an individual would get from consuming the product, and public safety precautions, particularly for those products that may inflict possible hazards in particular scenarios. On the other hand, there has been a rapidly emerging movement of vegetarianism for the last century. Throughout the years since the inception of the book, there have been a growing number of people who have suffered from heart attack, heart by-pass, stroke, high blood pressure, and other debilitating diseases related to excess meat consumption. The growing number of obese Americans has also been