Poisoned The Dirty Truth About Your Food Review: The Netflix documentary film directed by Stephanie Soechtig revolves around the issue of fatal foodborne illnesses in the US caused on account of poor Food safety standards. It features various experts from the field of food safety, including food scientists, physicians, and legal professionals. Produced by Ross Girard, Ross Dinerstein, and Kristin Lazure, Rebecca Evans, the documentary is 1 hour 22 minutes long and has English subtitles.

Poisoned The Dirty Truth About Your Food Review Does Not Contain Spoilers

Poisoned The Dirty Truth About Your Food Review

Among all of the content available on Netflix, the streaming platform’s wide-ranging documentary calendar is impressive and this film is yet another valuable addition to it. Poisoned The Dirty Truth About Your Food focuses on the United States as it analyzes the state of public health and the quality of food safety in the evergrowing food industry. It tactfully takes a look at the economic interests of corporations, the government’s role and more as they try to find accountability over cases of food safety concerns.

When it comes to food, if there’s one thing many will agree on, it’s that we are always on the lookout for an option that’s easy. It’s this very search for convenience that has made the fast food industry so successful and hence it’s impossible that it would come without any repercussions. The idea of easy food could also mean something that requires minimal cooking time, such as salads and while they may seemingly help us keep our weight in check, that one leaf of raw lettuce could also be a potential killer. For hypochondriacs, this documentary could pose a threat because it will definitely make you question how safe your food is.

As stated in Poisoned The Dirty Truth About Your Food, nearly 48 million people in the US get sick from foodborne illnesses. The film follows some of the biggest cases of food-based bacteria outbreaks that have cost lives and also tries to seek answers from those in power. It mainly sheds light on cases such as the Box E. coli outbreak of 1992-1993 and other infections such as Salmonella which have proved to be fatal.

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Among the many experts that director Soechtig interviews, Bill Marler is a key figure. Specializing in handling foodborne illness cases, he discusses why he is motivated to hold big corporations accountable. Heart-wrenching testimonies from victims of foodborne illnesses are also revealed as families speak about losing their loved ones to infections caused by pathogens in their food.

The documentary also presents some emotionally stirring moments, especially when we learn about the case of Stephanie Ingburg. An agile, athletic teen who faced a near-death experience after being detected with E. coli. What caused it? Something as simple as Romaine lettuce, which turned out to be bacteria-infested.

Fortunately, the movie goes beyond just recording the accounts of the victims and also questions the role of authorities in regulating companies to maintain food safety standards. It also skillfully showcases how easy it is for regulatory boards to play a blame game of sorts because of the complicated nature of the allotment of authority among them.

The US food industry finds itself divided under three major boards for food safety including the FDA ( Food and Drug Administration), USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and Department of Public Heath. When lives are lost due to food-borne illnesses, whom do we truly hold responsible? While these bodies may not be the villains, director Stephanie Soechtig doesn’t shy away from asking them the right questions nonetheless.

Through the interviews of activists and experts from the field, the film also celebrates individuals who have called out systemic flaws, including whistleblowers and experts who are ready to put their careers on the line for public safety. While on one hand, we are used to seeing the glorified views of food, the image of that gorgeous MasterChef Garden easily gets washed off as we watch concerning footage of food processing and distribution in the film. Those sealed packets that we glance through in grocery shopping aisles could very well have bacteria and it’s this reality that hits hard.

Final Thoughts

By providing varied perspectives and asking the right questions, Poisoned The Dirty Truth About Your Food makes its agenda loud and clear. Its motive is not to scare you but definitely raise awareness. While the content remains rich, the film suffers setbacks in the technical departments as the rushed editing in some portions and the background score create unwanted distractions. Yet, the message does come through crystal clear.

Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food is streaming on Netflix.

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