The Poison Squad: A Chemists Quest for Pure Food
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In the fall of 1902, twelve young men in suits regularly gathered for dinners in the basement of a government building in Washington, D.C. The men ate what they were served, even though they knew that their food was spiked with poison. The mastermind behind these experiments was Harvey Washington Wiley. Before you condemn him, though, you\\u2019d be surprised to know that you probably owe him a debt of gratitude. Incidentally, Wiley is the founding father of the Food and Drug Administration.
Inside the Episode:
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The intention of these experiments was not to induce digestive discomfort for its own sake. Rather, they were part of an extensive study on how chemical preservatives in food \\u2014 before regulations existed \\u2014 could harm human beings over time. You might cringe at what was once used to keep food \\u201cfresh.\\u201d
Producer Sruthi Pinnamaneni gave us a closer look inside the story. About diving deep into archival materials, she says,
\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\u201cI spent hours [at the Library of Congress], reading thousands of [Wiley\\u2019s] letters and squinting at his tiny journals.\\xa0 It is when you know every curve and squiggle of a man\\u2019s handwriting that you feel as though you\\u2019re starting to get to know him!\\u201d
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One surprising fact that she discovered while researching the piece was that while Wiley\\u2019s experiments contributed so much to food regulation, today\\u2019s practices still leave something to be desired:
\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\u201c\\u2026The FDA doesn\\u2019t really test food additives anymore.\\xa0 There are more than five thousand additives commonly found in processed food and most of them haven\\u2019t been tested on animals and almost none (except for dietary supplements) have been tested on humans.\\u201d
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Sruthi sent us some photographs of the Poison Squad, Wiley, and some (how shall I put this?) unconventional tools that were used during the experiments.
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William Carter with Wiley and the Poison Squad
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Wiley in his lab
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A letter showing interest in participating
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A fecal drying machine
\\u201cNone but the brave can eat the fare.\\u201d Are you brave enough? Full serving of intrigue and radio in this piece. Bon appetit.
\\n\\nThe Poison Squad won Best Radio & Podcast Media at the Jackson Hole Science Media Awards in 2014.
\\n\\nThe Poison Squad was produced by Sruthi Pinnamaneni with sound design by Brendan Baker. It was hosted for this episode of Transistor by Genevieve Sponsler and mixed for Transistor by Erika Lantz.
\\n\\nAll photos: FDA
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