The Jungle

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Jungle was written to alert the world to the awful conditions of Chicago stockyards where meat was processed. After the work was published, the public began complaining to the White House about sanitation and conditions in the stockyards and meat processing plants. President Theodore Roosevelt read the book, ordered an immediate investigation of the meat packing industry, and invited Upton Sinclair to the White House to discuss the work and his findings. The Jungle is the reason that the U.S Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was passed to begin a series of laws aimed at protecting consumers from the manufacture and sale of tainted food products.