104: The History of Food Safety Part 1: Historic Methods of Food Safety, Germ Theory, and Pasteurization

It's a History Podcast · Aug 27, 2026 · 17m

Hello! In this week's episode we are starting a multi part series on the history of food safety in the US. Looking at the recent food recalls we have had in the US, I got to thinking about how we got to where we are today.

In today's episode we look at some historic methods of food safety including cooking, drying, and pickling. We take a brief look at the history of germ theory, and then spend the rest of the episode looking at the history of milk safety after the rapid industrialization and urbanization of cities.

If you want to learn more about tenement housing, you can listen to this…