An Unsettling Look at Where Your Food Comes From

Sometimes, it's better not knowing.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Today marks the 134th birthday of famed author and journalist Upton Sinclair, who is best known for his muckraking novel, The Jungle. Sinclair intended for the novel to reveal the plight of the working man as a victim of capitalism, however, the readers were more concerned with the unsanitary and unsavory practices of the meatpacking industry. This led to one of the accidental consequences of the novel: widespread reform of food processing and manufacturing.

Now, food manufacturing and processing plants are of much higher quality than they were over a century ago, but some of the practices can still turn our stomachs (pink slime comes to mind). While everyone likes to think that their vegetables are picked fresh by farmers, hand-washed, and delivered straight to the supermarket, that's not how it works. So, for an inside look at the food industry, here is An Unsettling Look at Where Your Food Comes From. Tip: Don't read this while eating lunch.

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Meat Being Prepped for Pink Slime Production

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Pink Slime Rolled Out by Presses

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Excess Poultry Meat

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Pink Slime Portioned Out

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White Slime Used in Hot Dogs and Bologna

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Mechanically Separated Chicken for Nuggets

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Eggs Transported Via Suction Machinery

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Blocks of Cheese Travel on a Conveyor Belt

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Bottles Filled at a Dairy Plant

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Pastries Exit an Oven After Baking

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Tomatos Are Rinsed After Harvesting

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A Worker Oversees a Machine Separating Cheese

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Meat is Subjected to Quality Inspection

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Packages of Processed Meat Line a Freezer

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Poultry is Inspected on a Conveyor Belt

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Vegetables are Sifted Through By Machinery

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Vats of Cheese are Stirred

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Plates of Frozen Dinners are Filled Mechanically

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Workers Sort Ears of Frozen Corn

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A Worker Separates Turkey Meat

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Crushed Insects Provide Artificial Red Dye for Food Products

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