In the early 1900s, a team of young men employed by the United States Department of Agriculture volunteered to eat poison. They consumed borax, formaldehyde, copper sulfate, and other chemical preservatives that food manufacturers were routinely adding to the American food supply, all to scientifically document the health effects that the food industry insisted were harmless. Known as the Poison Squad, their sacrifices helped spark the consumer protection movement and led directly to the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The state of the American food supply at the turn of the century was genuinely horrifying. Without any federal regulation, manufacturers operated with virtually no oversight. Milk was routinely diluted with water and whitened with chalk or plaster. Canned meats contained chemical preservatives that masked spoilage. Coffee wa ...