In the early 1900s, the US Department of Agriculture offered healthy young men an unbelievable deal. They were invited into a basement dining room to eat three free, gourmet meals a day prepared by a top chef. The catch was deadly. Every single dish was laced with actual poison. Chief Chemist Harvey Wiley set up this operation to uncover the hidden dangers lurking in American food.
Testing the Limits With Borax and Formaldehyde
Wiley suspected common food additives were unfit for human consumption. To prove his theory, he launched the hygienic table trials, later dubbed the Poison Squad by the Washington Post. The chef spiked the men’s meals with chemicals such as borax, sulfuric acid, saltpeter, formaldehyde, and copper sulfate. At the time, formaldehyde was used to prevent milk from spoiling, while copper sulfate turned canned peas bright green. Wiley fed these substances to the participants, increasing the doses to observe the physical toll on their bodies.
The Strict Rules of the Basement Kitchen
The trials ran on strict guidelines. Wiley screened the men for high moral character and sobriety. He refused to allow women to participate, publicly stating his misogynistic belief that women were savages and lacked the brain capacity of men. The twelve chosen men agreed to a one-year term, eating exclusively at the Department of Agriculture facility. They received no monetary compensation and signed waivers swearing not to sue the government if they suffered adverse outcomes, including death. Before each meal, researchers checked their vitals and took their weight, while collecting weekly hair, sweat, stool, and urine samples.
Swallowing the Chemicals
Hiding the taste of the poisons proved difficult. The first additive tested was borax, a meat preservative with a distinct metallic flavor. A holiday menu featured borax in the apple sauce, soup, turkey, turnips, and coffee. The men soon learned to detect the borax and began avoiding the contaminated dishes. To keep the experiment going, Wiley forced the men to swallow the borax in capsules alongside their food. As the chemical doses increased, the men experienced immediate physical reactions, suffering from severe headaches, stomachaches, and vomiting right at the dining table.
Public Outrage and New Laws
Wiley initially banned the men from speaking to reporters, but the press soon uncovered the trials. He eventually allowed the media coverage to spread after government officials tried to suppress his findings on the dangerous additives. The resulting public outrage forced Congress to act. In 1906, lawmakers passed the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act, establishing the first federal food safety standards. Wiley closed the basement kitchen in 1907 and left his government post to work as a tester for Good Housekeeping magazine. The participants reportedly suffered no long-term health effects.