The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, is a muckraking novel about the meat packing industry at the turn of the 20th century. The book was originally meant to convey the harsh poverty and working conditions of the workers in the factories, but had more of an impact as a book about food safety. Sinclair was quoted as saying "I aimed at the publics heart and by accident i hit it in the stomach". The Jungle focused on subjects such as the lack of social programs, morbid work conditions and corruption of the factory leaders. The public responded largely to the cleanliness and health of the meat, as well as the stories such as workers falling into machines and getting turned to lard, or having extremeties cut off. The book had a profound impact in this regard. During this time, foreign sales of american meat fell by one half. Becuase of this, lobbyists for the meat industries urged the government to pass inspection laws. This lead to the Meat Inspection act which lead to the Pure Food and Drug Act, which eventually lead to the Food and Drug Administration.
