Parents' Guide to Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food

Movie NR 2023 82 minutes
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food movie poster: Dark lime green store shopping basket containing groceries such as beef, a red apple, and a yellow pepper and seal with a yellow tape with the word caution in black bold letters, along with the film's title and streaming date of August 2nd in black bold letters, and the distributor's name Netflix in red letters

Common Sense Media Review

Sabrina McFarland By Sabrina McFarland , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 13+

Food safety docu debates U.S. diet; language, scares.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Still from Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food: Inside a farm with young, white chickens gathering around each other in close quarters
  • Still from Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food: A taco on a white counter with various ingredients being added by an individual, wearing a clear glove on their right hand
  • Still from Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food: Farm with brown and white cattle gathering around each other, while the land is being irrigated with large sprouts of water

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What's the Story?

In POISONED: THE DIRTY TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FOOD, experts, families, and policy makers discuss the need for safe food consumption in the United States. The film is based on the book Poisoned by Jeff Benedict. With firsthand interviews and archival footage and photos, the documentary shares the personal narratives and public advocate actions about food production and its side effects. Beef and romaine lettuce are often associated with bacterial infections such as E. coli and salmonella. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that 48 million people get sick from food-borne illness in the United States each year.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

Director Stephanie Soechtig (Fed Up) brilliantly serves up yet another food-for-thought documentary. In Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food, viewers have often digested the statement that the United States has the safest food supply in the world. That's not, however, completely true. The documentary cites historic cases such as the Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant that reportedly caused an E. coli outbreak and the death of four kids due to undercooked hamburgers beginning in 1992.

Marion Nestle, author of Safe Food, alleges that "the company was not following" legal cooking procedures. Robert Nugent, president of the eatery says, however, that "we would never choose not to pay attention to the law." But it's more than just the beef. Food safety consultant Dr. Mansour Samadpour indicates that "when you eat a hamburger, the most dangerous part of that is not the burger. It's going to be the onions, lettuce, and tomatoes." Adds Nestle, "If you're the parent of one of those kids, this is beyond your comprehension. It's an American scandal." It's also a tainted tale to remind us all to possibly proceed with caution with the food we eat.


Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the communication of the cast in Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food. How do they also demonstrate courage, compassion, perseverance, and teamwork? Why are these important character strengths?

  • In the film, there's lots of finger pointing among policy makers and advocates about food safety protocols and who should be held accountable. Who do you think should be responsible and why?

  • What precautions could you take to prevent a food-borne illness from entering your body?

  • Is this documentary a fair depiction about food safety in the United States? Why or why not?

Movie Details

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Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food movie poster: Dark lime green store shopping basket containing groceries such as beef, a red apple, and a yellow pepper and seal with a yellow tape with the word caution in black bold letters, along with the film's title and streaming date of August 2nd in black bold letters, and the distributor's name Netflix in red letters

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