Harvey W. Wiley

Harvey W. Wiley, M.D., was the original-first at the Food and Drug Administration, where he became known as the “Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act.” An early pioneer of food chemistry, food toxicology, and food safety, Wiley was born near Kent, Indiana in 1844. He received an undergraduate degree in 1867 from Hanover College and an M.D. from Indiana Medical College in 1871. Shortly after, Wiley accepted a position teaching chemistry at Indiana Medical College. He obtained a B.S. from Harvard in 1873 and then, in 1874, accepted a faculty position in chemistry at Purdue University. With that knowledge he spent his last years at Purdue studying sorghum culture and sugar chemistry, focusing on the adulteration of sugar with glucose, which was also the subject of his first published paper in 1881. Wiley's educational and early professional experiences set the table for his subsequent pioneering efforts in adulterated food products.

In 1883, Wiley was appointed Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Chemical Division. The division changed its name to the Bureau of Chemistry in 1898, and that is where Wiley conducted his most famous work. He authored early important studies on food adulteration. More significantly, between 1902 and 1907 Wiley directed what would become known as the Poison Squad. Employees of the Bureau of Chemistry and medical students from Georgetown Medical College received free board, eating meals prepared in the bureau's kitchen, during the preparation of which, specific quantities of commonly used chemical preservatives were added to the ingredients. Low paid recent graduates eagerly signed up to join the so-called Poison Squad. The subjects were undergoing medical monitoring – they were required to record their weight, temperature, and pulse rate before each meal and to list what they ate. Then urine and feces samples were collected. Squad members never knew what possible poison they were eating. Still, they all signed waivers absolving the government of liability for possible health impacts.The end result was to determine to what level chemicals were retained, excreted, or changed in their bodies and if any symptoms noted could be attributed to those chemicals. Chemicals used in these experiments included borax, boric acid, copper sulfate, potassium nitrate, saccharin, salicylic acid and salicylates, sulfuric acid and sulfites, benzoic acid and benzoates, and formaldehyde. Wiley was a tireless promoter of food safety.

But there's no doubt that Wiley and his determined volunteers raised public awareness of a risky food supply. That awareness, that growing realization of danger, put intense pressure on the government to fix the problem of contaminated food. Four years after the squads were established, the nation's first law regulating food and pharmaceutical manufacturing went into effect. It was officially known as the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. Under Wiley's leadership, the Bureau of Chemistry grew in size and stature after assuming responsibility for enforcement of the 1906 Act.

Wiley was also a prolific writer during his tenure with the Bureau of Chemistry. The Government Printing Office published four of his major studies, including Influence of Food Preservatives and Artificial Colors on Digestion and Health v. Formaldehyde in 1908. Wiley also wrote several books during this time period, including Chemistry and Longevity: Food in its Relation to Individual and National Development. Dr. Wiley retired from the Bureau of Chemistry in 1912 and became director of the Bureau of Foods Sanitation and Health for Good Housekeeping magazine. While working for the magazine, Wiley developed the well-known Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, which is still in use today. Wiley died on June 30, 1930 at the age of 86. His legacy is still in evidence today in the work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and in the activities of many food and drug toxicologists.

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