Introduction

The production and sale of unsafe food, which typifiesthe concept of cheap capitalism, has become a globalconcern due to the increasing integration andinterdependence of contemporary societies. Forinstance, the marketing of genetically modified (GM)food worldwide poses potential harm to consumers(Walters, 2006). Additionally, millions of peoplearound the world are exposed to food poisoning, with350,000 dying annually from it (Sifferlin, 2015). Ingeneral, the issue of unsafe food is not a newdevelopment. For example, during the IndustrialRevolution in the UK, dangerous additives, includinglead and mercury, were added to milk production(Philips and French, 2000). Adulteration cases inthe US, Canada and Australia led to the passage ofanti-adulteration laws in the late 19th and early20th centuries (Pilcher, 2006).

The recent rise of cases involving unsafe food,however, demonstrate a historic and disturbingpattern of consumers’ daily vulnerability to therisk posed by dishonest food corporationssacrificing consumer safety and health for economicgain (Walters, 2006, 2007; Croall, 2009, 2012;Cheng, 2012; Picard, 2012; Young, 2012;Ghazi-Tehrani and Pontell, 2015; Leighton, 2016). Inthe US, for example, the Peanut Corporation ofAmerica (PCA) knowingly distributed Salmonella-contaminatedpeanuts to manufacturers and schools between 2008and 2009, which led to nine deaths, and about 11,000illnesses (Leighton, 2016; see also Chapter 11, thisvolume). Similarly, the Sanlu Group consciously soldits melamine-contaminated infant formula toconsumers, which caused the death of at least sixbabies, and over 300,000 illnesses (Ghazi-Tehraniand Pontell, 2015). These cases of unsafe food,combined with the discursive reframing ofhuman–nature relationships by cheap food (seeChapter 2, this volume), demonstrate the growingproblem of cheap capitalism in the food sectorglobally.

Using secondary data sources, including the media,regulatory bodies, interest groups and scholarlyliterature, this chapter explores unsafe food withinthe conceptual framework of cheap capitalism. Byexamining the nature and scale of unsafe food, itfirst argues that cheap capitalism is rampant andposes a greater risk to public health locally andinternationally. Second, it argues that the state,industry and the processes of globalisationtypically constitute the dominant factors drivingcheap capitalism in the food sector. Third, itargues that unsafe food in the Canadian context canproperly be understood within the global context ofcheap capitalism.