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  • The Poison Squad

  • One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
  • Written by: Deborah Blum
  • Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
  • Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (14 ratings)

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The Poison Squad

Written by: Deborah Blum
Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
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Publisher's Summary

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 best-selling 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 19th 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 30 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.

©2018 Deborah Blum (P)2018 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What the critics say

"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)

“[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)

“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

What listeners say about The Poison Squad

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bone chillingly good!

great for food historians and people interested in food/history! would highly recommend to anyone

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Scary Good

I couldn’t turn this book off. I listened to it in bed, at work, on my walks, eating dinner, and even during my morning coffee. I also started watching the PBS documentary based on the book.

Even the most basic food and drug safety laws are constantly under attack by manufacturers looking to make a quick buck. The real scary truth is they are completely willing to let your children die if it means they can cut costs. They don’t even care. This was as true in 1906 as it is today. The more things change the more they remain the same.

I don’t know why we as a society don’t work harder to protect ourselves from the poisons and malice of manufactures. The Poison Squad gives you a historical inside look at how the our health and safety are undermined and laws made weak and useless by those at all levels of government.

Another brilliant book by Deborah Blum.

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Did you like the Poisoner’s Handbook?

This one is just as interesting. Slightly less death, but only slightly. Better reader than the Poisoner’s Handbook. Very thorough and interesting, which is something I’d never thought I’d say about a book about the establishment of food and drug regulations.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book.

This book contains crucial information for those who love food safety. Likewise, it will contain practical information for the consumer in general that will help to realize the gimmicks of industries in their eternal desire to sell cat by hare.

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