The Poison Squad

A new American Experience will air on PBS Wisconsin tonight (Jan 28) at 8 PM. The new episode, The Poison Squad, is based on the book by Debora Blum which tells the story of government scientist Dr. Harvey Wiley. In a period where food and drugs could contain almost anything, Dr. Wiley was responsible for research that eventually pushed Congress to pass laws to protect consumers. He was most famous for feeding food preservatives and additives to students who had volunteered to test the chemicals, proving that they were harmful.

I recently read the book, and if the American Experience adaptation is as good as we have come to expect, this should be a must-watch story. If you cannot watch it at 8, it is also available for live streaming if you are a PBS Passport subscriber. A preview is available at the PBS Site.