The Poison Squad

One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the TwentiethCentury

De: Deborah Blum

Narrado por: Kirsten Potter

A New York Times Notable Book

The inspiration for PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film The Poison Squad.

From Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times-bestselling author Deborah Blum, the dramatic true story of how food was made safe in the United States and the heroes, led by the inimitable Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, who fought for change

By the end of nineteenth century, food was dangerous. Lethal, even. "Milk" might contain formaldehyde, most often used to embalm corpses. Decaying meat was preserved with both salicylic acid, a pharmaceutical chemical, and borax, a compound first identified as a cleaning product. This was not by accident; food manufacturers had rushed to embrace the rise of industrial chemistry, and were knowingly selling harmful products. Unchecked by government regulation, basic safety, or even labelling requirements, they put profit before the health of their customers. By some estimates, in New York City alone, thousands of children were killed by "embalmed milk" every year. Citizens--activists, journalists, scientists, and women's groups--began agitating for change. But even as protective measures were enacted in Europe, American corporations blocked even modest regulations. Then, in 1883, Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, a chemistry professor from Purdue University, was named chief chemist of the agriculture department, and the agency began methodically investigating food and drink fraud, even conducting shocking human tests on groups of young men who came to be known as, "The Poison Squad."

Over the next thirty years, a titanic struggle took place, with the courageous and fascinating Dr. Wiley campaigning indefatigably for food safety and consumer protection. Together with a gallant cast, including the muckraking reporter Upton Sinclair, whose fiction revealed the horrific truth about the Chicago stockyards; Fannie Farmer, then the most famous cookbook author in the country; and Henry J. Heinz, one of the few food producers who actively advocated for pure food, Dr. Wiley changed history. When the landmark 1906 Food and Drug Act was finally passed, it was known across the land, as "Dr. Wiley's Law."

Blum brings to life this timeless and hugely satisfying "David and Goliath" tale with righteous verve and style, driving home the moral imperative of confronting corporate greed and government corruption with a bracing clarity, which speaks resoundingly to the enormous social and political challenges we face today.

Reseñas de la Crítica

Full of fascinating detail . . . a valuable contribution to understanding the politics of food.”—Nature

“[Blum’s] prose is graceful, and her book is full of vivid, unsettling detail. . . . The Poison Squad offers a powerful reminder that truth can defeat lies, that government can protect consumers and that an honest public servant can overcome the greed of private interests.”—Eric Schlosser, New York Times Book Review

“A detailed, highly readable history of food and drink regulation in the United States. . . . [THE POISON SQUAD] shows the push and pull of competing economic, political and social interests. The journey our country has taken in establishing food, drink and drug regulation is an important one to understand because it is still going on.”—Wall Street Journal

“Blum draws from her meticulous research to re-create the battle between regulation in the name of consumer protection and production in the name of profits.”—Scientific American

“Riveting. . . . Blum isn’t just telling one scientist’s story but a broader one about the relationship between science and society. . . . [A] timely tale about how scientists and citizens can work together on meaningful consumer protections.”—Science magazine

“[E]ngrossing. . . . Blum’s well-informed narrative—complete with intricate battles between industry lobbyists and a coalition of scientists, food activists, and women’s groups—illuminates the birth of the modern regulatory state and its tangle of reformist zeal, policy dog-fights, and occasional overreach. . . . [A] page-turner.”—Publishers Weekly

“You’ve probably never heard of Harvey Washington Wiley, but he’s probably the reason you aren’t sick right now. . . . Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Blum tells [Wiley’s] whole story in this fascinating book.”—Lit Hub

“Fascinating. . . . The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 ended a century of scandal and bitter political maneuvering, with major impetus from Harvey Washington Wiley, a genuinely unknown American hero. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Blum offers less a biography than a vivid account of Wiley’s achievements. . . . An expert life of an undeservedly obscure American.”—Kirkus

“[A] compellingly detailed chronicle. . . . Citing worrisome recent attacks on consumer-protection laws, Blum reminds readers of the twenty-first-century relevance of Wiley’s cause.”—Booklist

great stuff

good book, great reader. recommended for all interested in food safety in America. fast moving history

Good but just the origins

Very good but only the beginning of the 20 Century. I'd like to learn more up to now.

Everyone should read this book

I loved this book! I am proud and ashamed of our country for their part in food safety

What's in your food?

This is a good lesson on politics that is germane even today. Here is the birth of the FDA. Without two things, it wouldn't have happened. The chief chemist (Dr Wiley) was the great advocate supported by a vast majority of consumers - who were vocal. The villains were big food business in cahoots with the lawmakers and the bureaucracy. You can be glad today that you don't have formaldehyde in your milk and many other things. Lessons here need to be applied to the gun laws and environmental protection. Read and learn.

Excellent and Timely Lesson and Call to Action

The research that went into creating the potrait of a brilliant, dedicated and passionate, though long-suffering and sometimes self-sabotaging character of Dr. Wiley is admirable. As the epilogue clearly states, this book provides a timely look at the history of food regulation and the long-running war between science and politics; as we look at Wiley's discoveries, battles and political roadblocks toward protecting public health through the Pure Foods Act, we are reminded how little has changed in the landscape of pilitics and how crucual both an educated public and tireless crusaders are to ensuring the public good over the interests of business. I enjoyed this book, and I enjoyed the reader's performance. I think she is able to convery Wiley's wry, dry humor very well. <3

If you eat you must read this book!

Deborah Blum has done an extraordinary job in gathering the history of food safety and presenting it in a clear and lively manner. If you worry about the safety of today’s food and long to return to early times, you will be shocked by just how unsafe our food used to be, and how much good FDA has done over the years.

Government corruption way back when

Interesting to see how food was treated how vaping is viewed today. Follow the money

Good story but boring cause ew history

If you’re someone that enjoys history then this book is for you but the book just wasn’t for me. it is a pretty good story though!

very informative

i learned a lot and it was entertaining as well would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about food history

Hero of a forgotten episode in US science

The Poison Squad is about the career of Dr. Harvey Wiley, a chemist in the US Department of Agriculture who led the fight against food adulteration in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is incredible what was passed off as food and food additives in a period with no regulation. In the pursuit of a buck, manufacturers would sell "coffee" that contained no coffee and "soft drinks" sold to children that contained high levels of caffeine, morphine, and even heroin. They would add formaldehyde to spoiled milk and borax to spoiled meat that was then canned and sold to the US military.

In the present day the case for strong regulation seems clear but Dr. Wiley ran into a lot of opposition, even when the safety of common food preservatives such as formaldehyde and boric acid was scientifically questioned by his "poison squad" studies, which used a panel of human test subjects fed various doses of these ingredients. Such studies would not pass scientific ethics boards today. The Poison Squad describes the various tangles Wiley had with anti-regulation advocates at the DOA and with food manufacturers' lobbyists.

It's an interesting story, especially for scientists. The narration is not great however. The narrator speaks as if half the text is in quotation marks, especially chemical terms such as "formaldehyde". It sounds as if she is reading a legal text rather than a historical text.