Baking Powder Wars The Cutthroat Food Fight that Revolutionized Cooking [Paperback]

First patented in 1856, baking powder sparked a classic American struggle for business supremacy. For nearly a century, brands battled to win loyal consumers for the new leavening miracle, transforming American commerce and advertising even as they touched off a chemical revolution in the world's kitchens. Linda Civitello chronicles the titanic struggle that reshaped America's diet and rewrote its recipes. Presidents and robber barons, bare-knuckle litigation and bold-faced bribery, competing formulas and ruthless pricing--Civitello shows how hundreds of companies sought market control, focusing on the big four of Rumford, Calumet, Clabber Girl, and the once-popular brand Royal. She also tells the war's untold stories, from Royal's claims that its competitors sold poison, to the Ku Klux Klan's campaign against Clabber Girl and its German Catholic owners. Exhaustively researched and rich with detail, Baking Powder Wars is the forgotten story of how a dawning industry raised Cain--and cakes, cookies, muffins, pancakes, donuts, and biscuits.

"Civitello connects the story of baking powder to much larger themes in American history, offering illuminating insights into how racial prejudices influenced branding and marketing practices in the baking powder industry. . . . Foodies and culinary enthusiasts will find much to mine."--The Wall Street Journal

"A thrilling tale of food business, especially the wonderful chapter seven, about the shenanigans of corrupt businessmen and politicians.”--Bruce Kraig, coeditor ofThe Chicago Food Encyclopedia
 

"Food historian Civitello tells a complicated and sordid tale of corporate mischief that will surprise many readers."--Booklist

"[A] meticulously researched history."--Orlando Weekly

 

"Readers interested in food and business will appreciate this well-researched book. . . .lÓ^