A New York chemist is reported to have treated some of his friends to what he called a “synthetic dinner,” each article of food being an artificial substitute for the real thing. It is not stated how well these materials tasted, but it is rather significantly said that after the dinner the chemist’s friends joined the ranks of the “pure fooders.” As the Chicago Tribune aptly remarks, it was an object lesson showing “what kind of meals many of the people of the United States might expect in a few years. To be sitting down to three times a day, in the absence of legislation for their protection.”
What would surprise most people is that this article appeared 100 years ago in JAMA. It turns out the Chicago Tribune prediction made in 1906 was quite prophetic. So much of the food that Americans eat today is loaded with preservatives and artificial colors, flavors and chemical that it should be classified as artificial food.
Terry Pfau DO HMD