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Wiley becomes the Chief Chemist in the U. S.D.A. Wiley was originally a proponent of funding the sugar industry and helped pioneer adding glucose to sugar. In 1902, he is awarded $5,000 by the U.S. Government to create studies and begin to create food regulations. With this, Wiley forms the Poison Squad.
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From Esquire, "The goal of the Poison Squad was simple: they were tasked with trying some of the most commonly used food additives in order to determine their effects." They sampled morphine, borax, sulfuric acid, saltpeter and formaldehyde.
Pictured: A letter written by a poison squad applicant. -
The original Food and Drugs Act is passed by Congress on June 30 and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. It prohibits interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks and drugs.
"I have here . . . a number of adulterated articles. Here is a bottle of cherries, originally picked green, in order that they might be firm, with the green color all taken out with acid until they were perfectly white, and then colored with an aniline dye which is poisonous in any quantity." -Congress -
Pictured: Meatpacking market pre-1906
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In the end, the food and drug act was passed in 1906, leading to the dissolving of the poison squad. All members survived.
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It prohibits labeling medicines with false therapeutic claims intended to defraud the purchaser, a standard difficult to prove.
Pictured: Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup for teething and colicky babies, unlabeled yet laced with morphine, killed many infants. -
The supermarket allowed people to have a one-stop shop, instead of the various private markets. It also gave shoppers choices, changing the model to the customer picks the item, instead of handing a list to the clerk. This also forced companies to begin to brand their products.
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Earl Silas Tupper creates Tupperware. He uses polyethlene as the material and is the first to create an airtight plastic container.
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Larry Hansen and Harry Wasylyk create the trash bag. Their product is bought by Glad.
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When Swanson was unable 260 tons of turkey after/for Thanksgiving, they turned to a salesman to create a new market: pre-prepared food. Originally, they were designed for airplanes. The first TV dinner included: turkey, corn-bread dressing, gravy, peas, and sweet potatoes. Each sold for 98 cents. In the first year of production, 1954, they sold 10 million turkey dinners.
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Created by Robert W Vergobbi, the bag was designed with a pencil pouch in mind. However, when it was discovered how useful they were as a household item, and were food safe, the product switched gears.
Ziplock Bags are introduced in 1968. -
Pictured: The creator, Jacques Brandenberger, in 1908 with his newly minted product. Fun fact: Cellophane was initially created to protect clothing from the rain.
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Coors introduces the aluminum can as it is less expensive than tin.
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High-density polyethylene milk bottles.
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The original plastic (polyethylene) shopping bag was manufactured by Celloplast. It's inventor designed it as an eco-friendly alternative.
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"Fair Packaging and Labeling Act requires all consumer products in interstate commerce to be honestly and informatively labeled, with FDA enforcing provisions on foods, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices." -FTC
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PET - Polypethylene terephthalate " It is commonly used in bottles and other plastic containers. This includes soda bottles, bakery products, water bottles, peanut butter jars and even in frozen foods packaging.
It is used to hold cosmetics. Since it is easy to mold, manufacturers can create very specific shapes for a variety of cosmetic products.
It is commonly used for the storage of chemicals, including household cleaners." Thought Co. -
"“In what other way can I get...a single serving of turkey, a portion of dressing...and the potatoes, vegetable and dessert...[for] something like 69 cents?” a Shrewsbury, New Jersey, newspaper quoted one reader as saying. "-National Geographic
Swanson introduces the plastic tray, instead of the aluminum tray from the 1950's. -
"Within seven years of its introduction, the PET bottle has taken over the soft-drink market in the 2-liter size." Packaging Strategies.com
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Pictured: Crop duster.
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Yoplait! creates the flexible yogurt (GoGurt) container.
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The website lists local grocery stores that feature waste-free packaged foods.
https://www.litterless.com/ -
After a small buy-in from Coca-cola, bioplastic begins to be marketable.
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NYT reports that 60 million metric tons ($162 billion dollars worth of food) is wasted. Multi-Barrier Technology begins its rise to dominance.
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The pouch was projected to grow 5.4% between 2018-2024. In 2019, they sold $31.8 billion in product.
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Beeswax food wraps,
Bamboo Cookware
Mushroom Packaging (pictured) -
Rises to second largest packing segment has about 19% of the $170 billion dollar market, according to FlexPack
