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Episode details

World Service,29 Jul 2024,26 mins

Fed: The fast food trap

Discovery

Available for over a year

Like many of us, Dr Chris van Tulleken is always trying to eat better food: healthy, high welfare, good for the environment. This kind of consumer demand is making the chicken industry better, in tiny increments. So why do so many of us give ourselves a pass when it comes to the food we know we should not be eating - fast food? Chicken is at the very heart of this industry. As a cheap meat that does not have a strong taste, can easily take on other flavours and does not have any religious restrictions, it’s the ideal takeaway ingredient; from nuggets to chow mein to tikka masala. And although we might be careful about chicken choices when buying it raw, somehow we don’t seem to mind turning a blind eye to the origins and nutritional content of our fast food favourites, especially if we’re hungry. Chris discovers just how bad this food can be for both us and the planet, and why we are powerless to resist it.

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