The Scientific Control of Food Fraud: From The Institute of Hygiene to the Municipal Laboratory. Chile, 1892-1902

Abstract

By the end of the nineteenth century the rise of food fraud overlapped with agro-industrial development and with a greater sanitary control of urban spaces trough new hygiene policies. This article presents the conformation of food fraud and the scientific structure organized for its management. It explores through governmental, legal and judicial sources, the first decade of the Institute of Hygiene and the arrival of a municipal mechanism of inspection based on the laboratory, inspectors, and chemists, which complemented the initial work of the Institute, especially in the provinces. This mechanism positioned the laboratory both, as a prior space of food inspection, and as a relevant instance of certification of food fraud in court.