''Rotten'' is an investigative documentary series produced by Zero Point Zero, focusing on corruption in the global food supply chain. The show's first season was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in January 2018, and the second season in October 2019. Each show "dives deep into the food production underworld to expose the corruption, waste and real dangers behind your everyday eating habits," featuring interviews with manufacturers, distributors, and others. The series uncovers wrongdoing by corporations who control the food that we eat and shortcomings by governments who have the mandate to oversee or regulate the sources of these food.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Reception

The second season was nominated for a

News & Documentary Emmy Award The News & Documentary Emmy Awards, or News & Documentary Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Scien ...

for "Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary", while the reporting team — journalists Christine Haughney, Erin D. Cauchi, and Gretchen Goetz — won the 2020 James Beard Media Award for "Visual Reporting (on TV or Online)." General reception to the series has also been positive, with an average rating of 86% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. The first season was praised for its "exploration of how corporate greed and corruption have quite literally changed the nature and origins of the food America consumes." It also received accolades for high-quality

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

and compelling, human-centered narratives but was criticized for focusing on particular issues rather than providing explanation for wider industry problems, or giving the viewer answers as to which brands and products are unaffected by the issues the series presents.

References

{{Netflix original series 2010s American documentary television series 2018 American television series debuts English-language Netflix original programming Netflix original documentary television series Works about Mexican drug cartels