The Politics of Purity: Harvey Washington Wiley and the Origins of Federal Food PolicySpearheaded by Harvey Washington Wiley, the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 launched the federal regulation of food and drugs in the United States. Wiley is often lauded as a champion of public interest for bringing about a law that required healthful ingredients and honest labeling. Clayton Coppin and Jack High demonstrate, however, that Wiley was in fact surreptitiously allied with business firms that would benefit from regulation and moreover, that the law would help him build his government agency, the Federal Bureau of Chemistry. Coppin and High discuss such issues as Wiley's efforts to assign the law's enforcement to his own bureau. They go on to expose the selectivity of Wiley's enforcement of the law, in which he manipulated commercial competition in order to reward firms that supported him and penalize those that opposed him. By examining the history of the law's movement, the authors show that, rather than acting in the public interest, Wiley used the Pure Food and Drugs Act to further his own power and success. Finally, they analyze government regulation itself as the outcome of two distinct competitive processes, one that takes place in the market, the other in the polity. The book will interest scholars concerned with government regulation, including those in economics, political science, history, and business. Clayton Coppin is a management consultant and historian, Koch Industries, Wichita. Jack High is Professor of Economics, George Mason University. |
Contents
The Struggle for Legislative Dominance | 53 |
The Struggle for Legislative Dominance | 64 |
Setting Food Standards by Government | 83 |
The Whiskey Wars | 100 |
Sulphur and Benzoate of Soda | 118 |
Corn Syrup and CocaCola | 134 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
administration adulteration alcohol American Food Journal Anderson Arbuckle Association BAIC baking powder benzoate of soda blended whiskey Bonaparte Bureau of Chemistry butter caffeine Candler catsup chemical claimed Coca-Cola commercial committee competitive Congress consumer corn syrup Dairy Officials Department of Agriculture distillate Drugs Act Dunlap enforcement experiments favor February File firms Food and Dairy Food and Drugs Food Inspection Decision Food Journal 15 food law food officials food regulation food standards fusel oil glucose H. J. Heinz Company hearings Hepburn-McCumber bill Hiram Walker History Hough Ibid Ira Remsen issue James Harvey Young James Wilson January label manufacturers of rectified margarine McCabe ment neutral spirits nutrition political preservatives pure food bill pure food law pure food legislation purity R. M. Allen rectified whiskey Remsen Board Roosevelt Secretary of Agriculture Secretary Wilson Senate straight whiskey sugar Taft testified tion Washington Wiley's William Frear wrote York