Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Petrick, Gabriella M.

Titel

'Purity as life': H.J. Heinz, religious sentiment, and the beginning of the industrial diet

Ist Teil von

• History and technology, 2011-03, Vol.27 (1), p.37-64

Ort / Verlag

Abington: Routledge

Erscheinungsjahr

2011

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Between 1880 and 1930 the application of new technologies not only reshaped the US landscape by introducing large-scale manufacturing into urban settings, but it also transformed what Americans ate. This transformation to foods made outside of the home created opportunities for adulteration as exemplified by Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Equally, widely reported toxic effects of various chemicals fed to Harvey Wiley's Poison Squad only heightened the public's and Congress's fear that there was something fundamentally wrong with the foods Americans ate. Using the H.J. Heinz Company as a case study, this article examines how one large industrial food processor built consumer trust based on his belief that religion and good works were essential to his business and crafting pure foods was his moral obligation. As a pioneer in the nascent food industry, Henry Heinz wanted to infuse both his products and his company with purity to differentiate his products and put consumers' fear of industrial foods to rest.