What is the purpose of the pure food and drug act

This article first appeared on July 5, 2018 in The Archbridge Institute’s ‘American Originals’ series.

It’s December 1875.

Thirty-one-year-old Henry John “HJ” Heinz is bedridden the entire month with deep depression. On some days, he cannot even get out of bed. His world has collapsed around him.

What did hj heinz know about his customers?

For the last six years, he and his friends and financial backers, the Noble Brothers, have built their Heinz, Noble, and Company into one of the leading Pittsburgh suppliers of horseradish, vegetables, and condiments. They have created a strong brand and expanded to St.

Louis and Chicago.

But now the “Panic” (depression) of 1873 has reached Pittsburgh. The skies are clear of the smoke produced by the iron and steel works and glass factories as they sit idle and thousands are thrown out of work.

Heinz, Noble had contracted for the entire output of a cucumber farm in Illinois, but now prices are dropping and unneeded,