Wiley spent decades trying to convince Congress to pass food-safety bills. This rotten egg has been deodorized with chemicals! These pickles are bright green because they're full of poisonous copper sulfate! This milk came from a cow with tuberculosis! This entire lunch is lethal!
But his appeals fell on deaf ears. listen here, you rabble-rouser, regulating food is a threat to American capitalism! How dare you infringe on the public's right to eat candy-dyed red by lead? You misunderstand me, sir. I am a devoted capitalist! I believe that if consumers aren't worried that their food might kill them, they'll buy much more of it!
But food industry lobbyists works tirelessly to crush Wiley's legislative efforts! Ah-ha! A little lead never hurt anyone.
Americans don't believe or even realize that their food is killing them! I guess I'll just have to prove it... by poisoning people myself! Wylie concocted an experiment. He dosed meals with controlled amounts of the dangerous chemicals commonly used in food at the time, and he fed them to healthy young men. Thus was born...
The Poison Squad!
Okay, today we got borax beef, sulfuric salad, salicylic stroganoff, formaldehyde fricassee aaaand ice cream for dessert! Ho-hooooh! The ice cream is also made of borax.
Wylie carefully monitored their poison intake and recorded the effects.
Perfect! Keep eating! Make it stop!
I've had so much formaldehyde that I'm in embalmed.
Yet alive! Keep eating!
The project was so crazy that newspapers begin reporting on it daily!
Ha-ha!
Daring lads eat poison so you don't have to! Read all about it!
The public was so captivated that Poison Squad members became celebrities. Wiley's plan worked so well that not only did he raise public awareness of food safety, he also attracted the attention of our old friend President Teddy Roosevelt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXOIJ_pXqRg
