Cargill Fact Sheet

Today, the global food system is in the hands of alarmingly few corporations that can run roughshod over consumer health, the environment, and human rights. Cargill is one of these companies. While its name may not be on the package, Cargill produces many processed food ingredients consumers see in the fine print on food labels like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oils, citric acid, lecithin and xanthan gum. Cargill is probably the largest grain trader in the world, with hundreds of grain terminals worldwide, as well as a fleet of cargo ships that can connect their global network of storage facilities. It’s a top beef, pork, and turkey processor, and cattle feedlot operator. Its European meat operations are the largest poultry supplier for McDonald’s, supplying them with sandwich patties and Chicken McNuggets. Cargill also lobbies in Brussels on the EU’s the Common Agricultural Policy. Cargill has been a leading architect of an agricultural system in which it is both buyer and seller, and it has made a tidy profit doing it.