The good news is none of these corporations are likely to ask for any taxpayer bailout money. The bad news is there’s a new report out revealing how hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and fries make it from the farm to the counters of three of the nation’s top fast-food chains, McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s. (If nothing else this depressing article proves Forbes Magazine isn’t just a journalistic shill for big business.)

The study’s co-authors, A. Hope Jahren and Rebecca Kraft, used a technique that identifies carbon and nitrogen isotopes in meat to determine the diet of the animal it came from and in what conditions it was raised. The researchers concluded that, based on the high levels of carbon and nitrogen isotopes found in the meat products, the animals were mostly fed corn in order to make them as fat as possible in as short a time as possible. Jahren and Kraft also said the data is consistent with that found in animals raised in conditions of extreme confinement.

Our beloved fries weren’t left off the hook, either. The article says “samples of french fries revealed that the restaurant chains are using one frying oil or a combination of oils despite claims stating otherwise,” and that there is the predominance of what they term a “corn oil protocol.” And we know that the overuse of corn is not helping our economy or our health.

O.K. That’s bad enough. But the really bad news is the authors’ “suggestion that the nitrogen isotope signatures for certain meat products were consistent with such environments where animals had consumed their own waste.” True or not, it’s a disgusting thought.

I told you it might be better to skip this one.

Click here to read the article.