Theodore Roosevelt denounced that poorly processed beef that his soldiers had been fed at the Spanish-American war said that he would have rather eaten one of his old hats. Meat preparation, drugs, and all other foods were thought to be safe from government intervention. The people who packed the meat or the 'meat packers' were exposed in a novel called The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. The book caused vivid images of unsanitary meat handling.

Roosevelt sent another commission to Chicago and they placed an article in the paper that was very critical of the 'meat packers' method. In 1906, Roosevelt succeeded in helping Congress to pass a bill providing meat inspection. He also succeeded in passing the Pure Food and Drug act, which prohibited the manufacture of unsafe food and drugs.