Life, 1909-05-27 · page 21 of 32
Life — May 27, 1909 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **full-page advertisement** by the H.J. Heinz Company, not a cartoon. It's a polemical piece addressing a genuine early-1900s food safety debate. **The Issue:** Benzoate of soda, a chemical preservative made from coal tar, was used by many food manufacturers. Heinz attacks it as a "drug" that: - Harms digestion - Permits use of inferior, unsanitary ingredients - Is concealed on labels in tiny print **The Authority:** The ad invokes Dr. Wiley (Harvey Wiley), a real crusader for food purity who led the USDA's push for the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. **Heinz's Strategy:** By advertising that their "57 Varieties" contain *no* benzoate of soda, Heinz positions themselves as the ethical competitor, implying rivals use dangerous shortcuts. This reflects genuine Progressive Era anxieties about unregulated food manufacturing, though modern historians note Heinz's self-interested motivation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Shall Your Foods be Drugged or Not? Much has been said about Benzoate of Soda in foods. It is not a matter, however, of mere press or political discussion—it is a vital health question that concerns you and your family. Experts here and abroad, including Dr. Wiley, who has stood for the health of the American people for 25 years, have said that Benzoate of Soda in foods has an injurious effect upon the digestive organs. Benzoate of Soda is not a food, It is a tasteless, odorless drug made from coal tar. Although used in many well-known brands of foods, the great- est danger in this drug is that it permits the use of inferior raw materials, as well as slipshod, unsanitary methods. In short, it is safe to assume that its use indicates uncleanliness or bad materials, It is never used to improve good materials, Does it mean anything to you that no manufacturer who uses Benzoate of Soda defends its use in his advertising ? Products of the best manufacturers (of whom there are many) do not contain or need Benzoate of Soda, because they are made of approbed materials in cleen surroundings. Heinz ‘'57 Varieties’’—Ketchup, Sweet Pickles, Preserbes, etc., etc., are prepared without Benzoate of Soda or any other drug—yet they may be purchased any time, anylwhere, with ab- solute confidence in their keeping quality. Money returned if you are not pleased. No person need accept a food containing Benzoate of Soda, for the law protects you by requiring its presence to be stated on the label. This statement is generally hidden in obscure type, an acknowledg- ment in itself of the maker’s desire to conceal it, Read all type on labels; it is for you to choose whether food brought to your own table, or served to you on a public table, shall be drugged or not. H. J. HEINZ COMPANY. Members of American Assoclation for the Promotion of Purity In Food Produots. comicbooks.com