Editing Gustavus Franklin Swift (section)

=="Everything but the squeal"==

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In response to public outcries to reduce the amount of pollutants generated by his packing plants, Swift sought innovative ways to use previously discarded portions of the animals his company butchered. This practice led to the wide scale commercial production of such diverse products as [[oleomargarine]], [[soap]], [[glue]], [[fertilizer]], hairbrushes, buttons, knife handles, and [[pharmaceutical]] preparations such as [[pepsin]] and [[insulin (medication)|insulin]]. Low-grade meats were canned in products like [[pork and beans]].

The absence of any [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] inspection led to many abuses in the packing plants. Spoiled meat, dead rats, sawdust and practically anything else might have been mixed with fresh meat and ground up into sausages. Rancid, rejected and unsold meat was frequently repackaged and resold. (Swift once bragged that his slaughterhouses had become so sophisticated that they used "everything but the squeal.") Transgressions such as these were first documented in [[Upton Sinclair|Upton Sinclair's]] fictional novel ''[[The Jungle]]'', the publication of which shocked the nation and led to the passing of the [[Meat Inspection Act|Federal Meat Inspection Act]] and [[Pure Food and Drug Act]] of 1906.<ref name=Kutner>Kutner</ref>