Profile: Campaign director - Eric Schlosser Journalist and author

But make no mistake, as far as the big fast-food chains are concerned,
the man who made his name as an investigative journalist attacking the
industry's business model and ethics is public enemy number one.

Five years ago his book Fast Food Nation topped the bestseller lists.
Now he is in the UK promoting the launch of his latest anti-fast food
missive, Chew on This. Co-written with Charles Wilson, the book is an
adaptation of his earlier work for children over the age of nine. This
will be followed by the autumn release of a film based on Fast Food
Nation.

Schlosser, 46, has been writing for more than a decade, having tried his
hand as playwright, novelist and screenwriter. After penning Fast Food
Nation, he turned his attentions to the US war on drugs and its prison
system. His return to fast food is the result of rising obesity rates,
which Schlosser believes are the result of marketing by McDonald's and
its peers. He points to the industry's level of activity and its use of
toy and movie promotions.

'At a time when there is an obesity epidemic across the industrialised
world, what these companies are doing is unethical,' he says.

Born and raised in New York, Schlosser cites his father, a former
president of TV network NBC, and his father-in-law, actor Robert
Redford, as inspirations.

Both, he says, achieved success without compromising their beliefs; his
father by championing public-interest broadcasting and Redford by
investing in independent film.

It is a trait he also looks for in companies. Indeed, it may surprise
some that he points to Starbucks as an example of a corporation doing
things right. 'It has come up with a labour model in the US that
stresses good wages and health benefits,' he says. 'It is possible to be
profitable and still have ethical values, and, as attitudes change, it
is also the right thing to do from a marketing angle.'

Schlosser's speech is reminiscent of his prose. Calm and measured in its
outrage, it eschews the shrill piety of many health campaigners. He
claims the aim of Chew on This is not to turn kids into activists. 'The
goal is simpler: to make them think by providing an alternative point of
view to the ads they see on TV,' he explains.

Reaction to the book in the US suggests he has hit a raw nerve. Reports
have suggested that McDonald's is preparing to unleash 'truth squads' to
'discredit the message and the messenger'. It denies this, but there are
some powerful forces gunning for him.

Bestfoodnation.com, for example, is a website set up by 18 food
organisations to rebut his arguments. More sinister are the
corporate-backed bodies, including Young Americans for Freedom and the
Heartland Institute, that have been waging a campaign accusing him of
being unpatriotic, against immigration and racist.

'Attacking me is a dumb PR strategy,' he says. 'They would be far wiser
to talk about these issues. All the bad publicity that the industry
receives from tapping into these right-wing lobbying networks, it has
earned.'

Schlosser's long-term goal is to make fast-food chains alter their
business practices. If they do not, he is all for government regulation.
Although he has no problem with marketing to children in general, he is
in favour of a blanket ban on promoting unhealthy food to them.

The good news for McDonald's is that the current activity marks the end
of Schlosser's scrutiny of fast food. He now intends to write a book on
prisons, before trying something other than journalism. After a decade
of investigating greed, corruption and misery, he has earned some time
off. 'I may return to fiction or try to write plays,' he says. 'Anything
to take a break from immersing myself in this very dark side of the
US.'

DAVID TILTMAN - CAREER HISTORY

1993: Takes up journalism and has his first piece published in Atlantic
Monthly.

1996: Becomes a correspondent for Atlantic Monthly.

1998: Writes two-part article on fast food for Rolling Stone
magazine.

2001: Fast Food Nation is published. It becomes a bestseller in the US,
UK, Canada and Japan.

2003: Publishes Reefer Madness:Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labor on the
American Black Market.

2006: Breaks off research into a piece on prisons to launch Chew on This
and a film version of Fast Food Nation.