1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: I'm to bling a Chuck Awarding, and I'm fair doubting. 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: And when you walk into the grocery store these days, 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: there's a lot of things to kind of worry about. 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: I guess, I mean, should you buy organic? Should you 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: buy foods that are grass fed, cage free? Is what 8 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: you're looking at locally grown? Just to name a few 9 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: problems you might face, because there's pretty serious health related 10 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: food concerns to, like mercury levels and fish and bacterial contamination. 11 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: You know, there was that news recently that half of 12 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: all the meat sold in the United States is tainted 13 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: with drug resistance staff. Yeah, that's freaking out. Apparently some 14 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: people aren't very concerned about it. I don't know. I 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: guess that's a big statistic, but it sounds weird. And still, 16 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,319 Speaker 1: you know, we have the salmonilla egg recall a few 17 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: years ago there was the peanut but are scare Yeah, 18 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: when you couldn't eat certain granola bars. Just I remember 19 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: my mom calling me up about that, like, don't need 20 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: any granola bars. I might have peanut butter. Yeah, yeah, 21 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: so you know, we have a lot to think about. Yeah. 22 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: So it's not a perfect system right now as far 23 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: as food regulation goes, but it still seems to have 24 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: come a long way from what it was about a 25 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: hundred years ago in the US, when there were really 26 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: no labeling requirements, no safety tests, and no one really 27 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: monitored additives. Those substances like borax, which is actually used 28 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: in detergent and things like that, and formalde hyde um 29 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: and these were used as food preservatives at the time, 30 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,960 Speaker 1: and formalde hyde in your food sounds pretty ridiculous if 31 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: you've ever done like a dissection in biology class or 32 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: something and smelled the stuff. But that's when the chemist 33 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: Harvey W. Wiley came into the picture, because obviously, if 34 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: you have stuff like borax and formaldehyde in your food, 35 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: things need work. Yeah. So Whiley stepped in first mainly 36 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: trying to change things solely through legislation, and then through 37 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: something that came to be known as the Poison Squad, 38 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: and that was a kind of human experiment through which 39 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: Wiley tested substances used in food that he believed to 40 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: be harmful. And this became kind of a media sensation attention. Yeah, 41 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,399 Speaker 1: as it would so we're going to take a look 42 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: at how the poison Squad worked and what it accomplished, 43 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: and also why Wiley is considered by many to be 44 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: the founding father of the U. S. Feud and drug administration. Yeah, 45 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: but first we're going to give a little background on Wiley. 46 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: He's kind of a pioneer man almost, who was born 47 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty four in a log cabin on a 48 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: frontier farm in Indiana, so real classic beginnings. And in 49 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: addition to being a father, his father was a Campbellite preacher, 50 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: So Wiley grew up in this real evangelical background with 51 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: a strong emphasis on doing the right thing, which is 52 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: clearly going to come into play in his later career. Yeah. 53 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: But before that career took off, he went to Hanover 54 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: College in Indiana in the eighteen sixties. He dropped out 55 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: briefly in eighteen sixty four to serve in the Union 56 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: are Me during the Civil War, but he never really 57 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: saw combat. So he returned to finish up at Hanover 58 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: and then went on to get a medical degree at 59 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: Indiana Medical College, and he studied medical science for a 60 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 1: year at Harvard, so very educated. Yeah, and from there 61 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: he got a professorship in chemistry at Purdue University, and 62 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: it's while he was there that he helped write a 63 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: report for the Indiana State Board of Health condemning adulterated foods. 64 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: And his main thoughts and main research had to do 65 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: with honey, and he found basically that companies were adulterating honey, 66 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: passing it off as pure honey, but really adding glucose. 67 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: In fact, the product they were selling was mostly glucos 68 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: and he was pretty disturbed by this. So this is 69 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: the first time he caused a little bit of a controversy, 70 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: but it was not the last time. No, this experience 71 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: is what caused the interest in food adulteration that Wiley 72 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: would have throughout his entire career and his life. In 73 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,839 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty three, he actually got a chance to take 74 00:03:57,880 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: that interest to the national level when he was offered 75 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: the position of chief Chemist in the Department of Agriculture 76 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: in Washington, d c. And this came at a good 77 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: time too, because he had some trouble with the administration 78 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: at Perdue around that time to make an exit, Yeah, exactly. 79 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: I think it was something about riding a bike on 80 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: campus and that he didn't think that was like fitting 81 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: for a professor. Yeah, how scandalous. Definitely. So his main 82 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: job as the chief chemist was to support new agricultural industries, 83 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: because this was, after all, a government job. That's the 84 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: kind of thing that he'd be expected to do. But 85 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: he still followed his own passion and developed this test 86 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,479 Speaker 1: for food purity on the side something so he could 87 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: look at what people were really putting into food. Yeah, 88 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: and eventually he took his fight for federal food regulation 89 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: to Congress. His work contributed to several pure food bills 90 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: in the eighteen eighties and the eighteen nineties. So this 91 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: is what we're referring to when we talked about legislation 92 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: that he contributed to. But none of these bills, they 93 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: none of them went anywhere. They all kind of failed. 94 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: So something had to be done though, I mean, adulteration 95 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: of food was a real problem. There were instances of 96 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: sanded sugar, watered milk, sawdust, enhanced flour, which just sounds crazy, 97 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: just to name a few things that were problems at 98 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: the time, and some states had laws against these things, 99 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: but with the growth of nationwide food distribution, it was 100 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: really hard to enforce them once they crossed state lines yea, 101 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,559 Speaker 1: so people didn't know where their food was even coming from. 102 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: And according to an article by Bernard A. Weiss Burger 103 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: in American Heritage, late nineteenth century technology brought more additives 104 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: than to the picture too, So it wasn't just these 105 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: things being added like sugar or watered milk, it was 106 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: coloring agents and preservatives like copper sulfate and flour bleaches 107 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: and Wiley's first big concern that we mentioned earlier borax. Yeah. So, 108 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,239 Speaker 1: since manufacturers weren't required to prove preservative safety, Wiley asked 109 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: Congress in for money to do the test himself. He 110 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: wanted to learn quote, whether preservatives should ever be used 111 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: or not, and if so, what preservatives and in what quantities. 112 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: So he thought he could prove that these substances were 113 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 1: harmful that Congress in the public would finally support national 114 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: regulation policies. So that was the goal here, third party 115 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: testing essentially, So in nineteen o two, Congress gave Wiley 116 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: funding to start these tests that he wanted to do, 117 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: and they were known officially as the Hygiene I Table Trials, 118 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: And the way they worked is kind of medieval seeming almost. 119 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: It reminds me of the King's Food tester. Yeah, it's 120 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,280 Speaker 1: really interesting. Actually, widely recruited twelve young, healthy men. They 121 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: were all volunteers actually from the Department of Agriculture. But yeah, 122 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: they weren't tricked in any way. They were all in 123 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: their twenties though, and that was so they'd be sturdy 124 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: enough for the experiment or so widely determined. And for 125 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: a span of six months, those twelve men agreed to 126 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,119 Speaker 1: eat only meals that were prepared in a test kitchen 127 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 1: that Wiley set up in the basement of the Agriculture 128 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,840 Speaker 1: department building. Yeah, here's the catch. Each meal would include 129 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 1: one suspect ingredient that Wiley wanted to test, So for example, 130 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: the borax. Yeah, that's gonna make you question this free 131 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: meal deal a little bit. Yeah, definitely sounds good up 132 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: until that point. But another aspect of it was that 133 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: the men also pledged to eat all their meals at 134 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: the hygiene table, and that was that meant that they 135 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: were eating at a dining table in a dining room 136 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: that was set up next to the test kitchen. So 137 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: this was all in the basement together. I'm thinking this 138 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: is the counterpart two NPR Splendid Table. Yeah, not very 139 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: pleasant though, So they agreed that they would not consume 140 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: any outside foods or beverages to except for water, and 141 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: even that had to be measured and reported. I mean, 142 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: the deal was they didn't want to get sick from 143 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 1: something the guy was snacking on them side exactly, And 144 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: each participant had to record his weight, temperature, and pulse 145 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: before each meal and what he ate. They also had 146 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: to submit urine and fece samples daily, so not definitely 147 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: growth all around, very was what I would say. That's 148 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: probably the most unpleasant aspect of the daily ritual. Yeah. 149 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: And then also doctors would examine the participants and note 150 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: any symptoms in case these additives were having negative effects 151 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: on a weekly basis. Right, So all the volunteers obviously 152 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: knew that they were eating potential poisons, but they all 153 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: signed to these waivers that absolved the government from any 154 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: liability in case they got ill. And so initially Wiley's 155 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: approach was to make it pretty random to mix the 156 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: potential poison, whatever the poison of the week was, into 157 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: the food, which was supposed to be pretty good too. 158 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess that's why they got these volunteers 159 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: in the first place. Yeah, I've seen different examples mentioned 160 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: roast chicken, braise, beef, buttered asparagus, so in a little 161 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,079 Speaker 1: borax on the side. Well, if you forget about the borax, 162 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: it sounds like a decent deal. But even though the 163 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: men weren't told which food item Whiley put the substance 164 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,679 Speaker 1: such as borax, and they ended up avoiding that particular 165 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: item in the first couple of trials, So it tastes funny. Yeah. 166 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: For example, if Whyley put box and the butter, they 167 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't eat it because they would notice it. I'm not 168 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: sure how different, how different the taste would be, but yeah, 169 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: you would realize, oh, that's where the poison is and 170 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: move on to your roast chicken and asparagus meal. Yeah. 171 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: So then what Wiley did pretty early in the trial 172 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: as he changed his approach, he started putting the preservatives 173 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,319 Speaker 1: in these gelatin capsules instead, and this meant that the 174 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: poison was no longer hidden. But surprisingly, really surprisingly to me, 175 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: the men took them willingly Whiley put them out in 176 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: a serving bowl with each meal, with the understanding that 177 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: if they were taken in the middle of the meal, 178 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: they would dissolve in the digested food. So it would 179 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 1: be pretty much the same as eating it actually mixed 180 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: in with the food item. Yeah, and another interesting point, 181 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: Whyley didn't make the guinea pigs take all the risk 182 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: he took. He joined in for many of the meals. 183 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: To imagine that endeared him to the twelve volunteers a 184 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: little bit. So obviously, these hygiene e table trials become 185 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: a national sensation pretty quickly. In the newspaper Earth think 186 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: of of an even better name for the whole thing 187 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: and dubbed the volunteer test subjects the Poison Squad, and 188 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: the experiment really did have a show like quality to it. 189 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 1: The volunteers even had their own slogan. It was none 190 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: but the brave can eat the fair. And people even 191 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: wrote songs about them. Yeah. One was called the Song 192 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: of the Poison Squad, and it was by the lu 193 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: doc Stater minstrels. I hope I said that, right, all 194 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: you lu doc Stater fans out there can let us 195 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: know it. Yeah, right in and tell me if I 196 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: said that correctly. But the song went like this or 197 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: this was one verse. Oh, they may get over it, 198 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: but they'll never look the same. That kind of bill 199 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: of fair would drive most men insane. Next week he'll 200 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: give them mothballs ala Newburgh or else plain. Oh, they 201 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: may get over it, but they'll never look the same. Yeah. 202 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: So pretty catchy there. I like to think they might 203 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: have played that at the dinner table or something. But 204 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: some people obviously put a humorous spin on this whole thing, 205 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 1: and the experiment even made its way into variety acts 206 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: of the time. Um probably understandably so, because research at 207 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: the dinner table didn't really seem that sciency. It seemed 208 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: kind of fun. Well not that fun, I guess, but 209 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: different at least, yeah, compared to most traditional scientific stent 210 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: in a lab coat kind of situation. Yeah, I mean 211 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: you could. I could imagine this being like a reality show, 212 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: couldn't you. I mean, I think it is a reality 213 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: show across between Fear Factor and Top Chef or something, 214 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: So you can imagine a million people wanting to tune in, 215 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: so to speak, and see what's happening every week with 216 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,719 Speaker 1: these guys. And while he did worry about this at 217 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: first because he wanted to take the research seriously, but 218 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: he still knew that he needed to win over the 219 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: public and get them involved. The point of the whole 220 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: thing so he worked the banquet circuit, even making up 221 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: little poems for listeners, like this one entitled I Wonder 222 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: What's in it? And it goes the pepper perhaps contains 223 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: coconut shells, and the mustard is cotton seed meal, the 224 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: coffee in sooth of baked chickory smells, and the terrapin 225 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: tastes like roast veal. Yeah, and he also started talking 226 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: into reporters to about the experiment, so not just writing 227 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: these catchy little poems, but giving them every detail of 228 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: the effects that the poisons had on the men. And 229 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: some of the examples of the effects were disturbing. I mean, 230 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: borax proved to be not so bad. Perhaps it gave 231 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: the men a little bit of indigestion, but over the 232 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: long term and in increased amounts, it caused weight loss 233 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: and reproductive system damage. So definitely some problems with a 234 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: frequent food additive there. Formaldehyde was tested later, and Wiley 235 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: had to end those tests pretty much right off the 236 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,559 Speaker 1: bat because the men got so sick they couldn't even 237 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: get out of bed. So you know, that's good stuff 238 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: for the news. Yeah, there's definitely some scare factor there, 239 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: But the experiment went on for five years with different 240 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: groups of volunteers, and eventually that publicity that they got 241 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: definitely paid off. The public's growing awareness put pressure on 242 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,839 Speaker 1: the government, and on June thirtieth and nineteen o six, 243 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drugs Act, 244 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: which was large really written by Wiley, and it was 245 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: the nation's first law regulating food and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Many 246 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: called it the Wiley Act, not surprisingly enough, and Wiley 247 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: got a new job out of it too. Yeah, he 248 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: got to oversee this new acts administration, and that's kind 249 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: of why he's known as the father of the Pure 250 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: Food and Drug Act, as you might imagine. Yeah, but 251 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 1: things were still a little bit rough for him after 252 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,560 Speaker 1: this big triumph. Even he had a lot of adversaries 253 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: in Congress, and he met with a lot of opposition 254 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: while trying to enforce the Act, because you know, an 255 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: act on the books is only as good as its enforcement. 256 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: So he even butted heads with the President and the 257 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: Secretary of Agriculture and ended up resigning in nineteen twelve. Yeah, 258 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: but it wasn't so bad for his career because he 259 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: ended up moving on to another really high profile position. 260 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: He signed on as the director of the Bureau of Foods, Sanitation, 261 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: and Health for Good Housekeeping magazine, and the magazine at 262 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,679 Speaker 1: that point had already created the Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories 263 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: to ensure the reliability of thes that it featured in 264 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: the magazine on its pages. So while he added his 265 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: own lab in d C to the mix and continued 266 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: his fight for pure food in that way, and he 267 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,079 Speaker 1: worked there for another nineteen years as the director before 268 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,839 Speaker 1: he died in nineteen thirty at the ripe old age 269 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: of eighty six. I guess some of those additives didn't 270 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: have too bad of an effect on him for the 271 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: long term. But during those years he led the fight 272 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: for tougher government inspection of meat, and for pure butter 273 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: that was unadulterated with water, and for whole wheat flour, 274 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: among a lot of other things. And interestingly, that Good 275 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: Housekeeping tested an approved seal also became a real symbol 276 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: of responsible industry of safe food, and it's still probably 277 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: means something to consumers today, I'd say yeah, for sure. 278 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: And Wiley's accomplishment is felt in other ways to borax 279 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: sale silic acid formalde hyde and copper sulfate. All of 280 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: these things are long gone from the food additive marketly, yeah, 281 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: thank goodness. And that pure feud and Drug Act that 282 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: Wiley each ampiend of that led to the more famous 283 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: ninety eight Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. So changes, 284 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: big changes, definitely um And As for former members of 285 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: the Poison Squad, no official follow up was done on 286 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: how they did in later years, but anecdotal evidence showed 287 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: that at least some of them did okay. One, for example, 288 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: a guy named William O. Robinson lived to be ninety four, 289 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: so didn't turn out so badly for everyone. Yeah. I 290 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: like to imagine maybe Poison Squad was on their business 291 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: cards or something after the fact. Oh yeah, I would 292 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: wear that you went to the restaurant business or something. 293 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: I don't know. I think you'd always be suspicious though, 294 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: So the restaurant business, how would be? I'm suspicious now 295 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 1: after reading this, and I think others are probably feeling 296 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: pretty suspicious about the food they're consuming nowadays too, definite 297 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: lyast in some cases. There was an article on slate 298 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: dot com actually by Deborah Bloom about this exact topic 299 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: about Yeah, she brings up the poison squads and basically 300 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: ties it into current day food issues with bacterial contamination 301 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: and so forth, things that we mentioned in intro and um, 302 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: you know, just talks about how it might be time 303 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: to kind of crack down on food regulation again. Yeah. 304 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: Maybe grab lunch though before you listen to the podcast 305 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: and read the article. Yeah, like a long time before 306 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: you're long. I listened to the podcast read the article, 307 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: although if you're listening now you probably are it's too late. Sorry. Um, 308 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: but that is all we have today on the Poison Squaw. Yeah, 309 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: we'll wrap up with some listener mail. So we got 310 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: another email from Marcia And if you guys remember, she's 311 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: the one who wrote in proposing a little bit of 312 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: a deal if we covered Catalina da er a rousso 313 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: we would in return here's some podcasts that her own 314 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: students recorded. So we obviously have accepted that deal. It 315 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: was pretty fun. But she wrote in to note that 316 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: our use of exclusively feminine pronouns to refer to arrows 317 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: so might upset from people who are very attached to 318 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 1: her status or his status as a transgender hero, for 319 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: example of Leslie Fineberg. That was one of the examples 320 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: she gave writes about arrowsou using masculine pronouns exclusively in 321 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: Transgender Warriors, and she also wrote that some people might 322 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,199 Speaker 1: want to claim Arrows so as a bath Carol. And 323 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: we did, in fact get one email from somebody questioning 324 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: our use of the feminine pronouns for it, and a 325 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 1: Facebook comment I believe Yeah, I think so. Jeff wrote 326 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: in to say that I believe you made the wrong 327 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: choice when referring to him with female pronouns. I understand 328 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: and agree that sticking with one type of personal pronoun 329 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,440 Speaker 1: to avoid confusion is a good idea. However, taking into 330 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,880 Speaker 1: account Alonso's choice to live and identify as a man, 331 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,399 Speaker 1: in the acceptance he ultimately received, I believe he had 332 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: owed the respect of his chosen gender identity. Yeah. As 333 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: Jeff mentioned, our decision to refer to Arrows as a 334 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: female as a her was based on consistency, especially for 335 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,920 Speaker 1: an audio podcast. We wanted it to be clear who 336 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: we were talking about in the context of the podcast. 337 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 1: But we I think we both absolutely respect a person's 338 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 1: right to be identified however they want to be. Yeah, 339 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: and I mean I was definitely interested to see the 340 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,359 Speaker 1: mail we got for it. So, Yeah, it's a great point, 341 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: and I'm glad that we have this opportunity to put 342 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: that out there so that people know. Definitely. Yeah, And 343 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,880 Speaker 1: if you guys ever want to write in to make 344 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: a comment like that, or to make a suggestion, maybe 345 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: just your own food squad poison squad story. Hopefully you 346 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: don't have well maybe actually we don't want to read that. 347 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: I don't, I don't know. If I want to learn 348 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: any more scary things about substances, maybe don't write it 349 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:48,120 Speaker 1: about that, But anything else you can definitely contact us 350 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,360 Speaker 1: at History podcast at how stuff works dot com. We're 351 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: also on Twitter and misson history, and we're on Facebook. 352 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: And if you want to learn a little bit more 353 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: about human experiments, we have an article on our website 354 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: called how human and Experimentation works, and you can look 355 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: at it by visiting our homepage at www dot how 356 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. For more on this and thousands 357 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. To 358 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 1: learn more about the podcast, click on the podcast icon 359 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,719 Speaker 1: in the upper right corner of our homepage. The how 360 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: Stuff Works iPhone app has a ride. Download it today 361 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: on iTunes.