When you go to the supermarket to buy a rotisserie chicken (watch out for this red flag), or when you pick up a choice beef cut from the butcher or grocery store, you can be reasonably sure that those meat products won’t make you horribly sick. Due to the nature of these things, the chances aren’t zero, exactly, but they’re low enough that you can go food shopping without needing to update your last will and testament. This is because the places that supply your food are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration — which has been around for long enough that it’s easy to take for granted. But, it’s important to take stock and appreciate what we have. To do this, it is worth looking back at what the meatpacking industry was like before the FDA. The short answer: It was pretty bad!
Even in ideal conditions, meatpacking is pretty gnarly; we’re talking about slaughtering animals and butchering their bodies, after all. But in the early days of the 20th century, when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing, meatpacking plants were something close to hell on earth. The facilities were spattered with blood and guts, rotten meat was packaged and sold, rats were ground up into sausage, and meat processing was conducted mere feet away from filthy latrines. All of this was brought to light by the muckraking author Upton Sinclair, who horrified America and spurred change — albeit not necessarily the kind of change he hoped for.
Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to highlight worker exploitation
Upton Sinclair was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a muckraking journalist, and an ardent socialist. You may know him as the author of “Oil!” This novel formed the (very) loose basis of Paul Thomas Anderson’s classic film “There Will Be Blood.” Or you may know him from his doomed 1934 campaign for Governor of California, which became an important plot point in David Fincher’s film “Mank.” But, you most likely know him for “The Jungle,” a 1906 novel that exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry in America and set into motion events that led to the founding of the Food and Drug Administration.
Despite the book’s lasting legacy, food safety was, at best, a secondary concern for Sinclair. After immersing himself in the world of meatpacking plants in Chicago, Sinclair wrote the novel to highlight how badly workers were being exploited — sickened by unsanitary conditions, they nonetheless had to work grueling hours for little pay or otherwise face eviction. However, his book also contained memorable passages that depicted the horrific conditions present in meatpacking plants. While fiction, this piece of work clearly indicated that the unregulated nature of food manufacturing was a serious issue.
Americans were scandalized by the novel
“The Jungle” inspired disgust and outrage from the American people and most of it was focused on the unsanitary nature of the meatpacking plants. One famous scene, where a giant vat of lard is processed and sold while containing the flesh of drowned workers, was especially shocking. (Upton Sinclair heard about this second hand, and no one was able to verify that it actually happened.)
Eventually, the outcry reached the point where somebody had to do something about it. While there was a mutual enmity between Sinclair and President Teddy Roosevelt, Roosevelt agreed to send inspectors to Chicago meatpacking plants — which, even after having been cleaned and prepared in advance, were so vile that one inspector swore off meat altogether unless it came from a nearby farm.
The Meat Inspection Act passed in 1906. Then, later that year, the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed. This act eventually led to the formation of the Food and Drug Administration and, over time, improved sanitary conditions at meatpacking plants. So, if you’re ever frustrated by all the red tape, remember that the regulations set by the FDA are there for a reason. Were it not for the FDA, eating some recalled food would be the least of our problems.
