Harvey Washington Wiley: the Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act and the Modern FDA
Harvey Washington Wiley was born on 1844 in Kent, Indiana to a family of farmers. He received basic education and enrolled in Hanover College in 1863.
After serving in the Civil War from 1864 to 1865, he returned to school and finished his studies at Hanover. Following his graduation, he taught at a public school as a professor and learned about medicine under the tutelage of a local doctor. He later enrolled at Indiana Medical College and earned a medical degree.
He continued to teach at the university level while also studying at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University where he obtained a degree in science. In 1874, he took a position as a professor of chemistry at Purdue University.
In the 1880s, Wiley became a consumer activist and joined others in protesting against the practice of adulteration in fertilizers and in food. In 1881, he was appointed state chemist to analyze the contents of these commercial fertilizers. This position led him to become chemist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Chemical Division two years later.
Wiley’s initial job was to conduct sugar experiments at the department, but soon after he allocated enough funds to investigate the adulteration of food. Between 1884 and 1885, he carried out studies on diary and other products. The findings were published by the FDA to raise awareness among the public and push for national food standards.
Over the years, pure-food bills were introduced to Congress to no avail due to powerful lobbyists. To turn public opinion around, Wiley organized a group of volunteers made up of young, healthy men, later dubbed the Poison Squad, to test the effects of chemicals and adulteration in food. The men subjected themselves to strict diets, tests, and frequent collection of urine and feces for analysis. Indeed, this captured the interest of the public, but it wasn’t enough. It took the publication of the Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair to gain more advocates for food safety. The book shed light on the horrible and unsanitary conditions at packinghouses around the country. That same year, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drugs Act, largely written by Wiley, into law. The bill prohibited the adulteration of food and drugs at the national level, making it the first of its kind in the United States.
After the billed passed, Wiley worked in the FDA until 1912. He had made many enemies during his time in government and was pushed aside by officials when he worked on more laws to strengthen food safety. He became director of the Good Housekeeping magazine where he continued his fight for pure food.
Sources:
https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/harvey-washington-wiley
https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-leadership-1907-today/harvey-w-wiley
https://www.americanheritage.com/doctor-wiley-and-his-poison-squad
