"Startling Disclosures! The Milk We Drink..." Advertising Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, May 8, 1858

Frank Leslie's scathing articles exposed New York City's "swill milk" scandal in 1858. Whiskey distillers had been keeping dairy cows in cramped sheds and feeding them leftover mash, sickening them and tainting their milk. In turn, the milk--masked with other ingredients and marketed as "pure" to urban consumers--poisoned thousands of infants. New York State finally issued milk regulations in 1862.