Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:24:15.031Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Negotiating Innovation in a Market Economy: Foodstuffs and Beverages Adulteration in Nineteenth-Century France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2015

Alessandro Stanziani
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In France, between 1870 and 1914, the business world was very concerned with the increase in “fraud” and “counterfeiting” in beverages and foodstuffs. This paper explores the origin and significance of this phenomenon. Three main products and markets are analyzed: wine, butter, and milk. On the basis of primary research, the paper contests the traditional interpretation according to which adulteration was linked to an increasing demand for food by low-income classes in highly imperfect markets. The paper adopts a radically different approach by questioning the way innovation is defined and perceived in a market economy: why is it common to speak of “innovation” for manufactures while evoking the term “adulteration” when food and drinks are concerned? The argument is that food and drink adulteration had its origins in technical progress (the introduction of chemistry into the food industry), urbanization, and the internationalization of the economy. As such, adulteration was a juridical category that was mobilized on occasions by economic lobbies in order to benefit from rents in the market, while continuously regulating innovation by agreement and compromise.One clear implication is that quality is not an objective, ahistorical category but that at different times different definitions of an item's quality compete with one another. It was only after the institutional and legal framework had been defined that social conventions and consumers' choices could take effect.

Type
Articles
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 8 , Issue 2: Business and Nature , June 2007 , pp. 375 - 412
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2007. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibliography of Works Cited

Books

Berg, Maxine, and Helen, Clifford Consumers and Luxury: Consumer Culture in Europe, 1650–1850. Manchester, U.K., 1999.Google Scholar
Berry, Christopher. The Idea of Luxury: A Conceptual and Historical Investigation. Cambridge, U.K., 1994.Google Scholar
Bidaud, Jean. Les laiteries coopératives dans l’Ouest de la France. Poitiers, 1906.Google Scholar
Brewer, John, and Roy, Porter eds. Consumption and the World of Goods. London, 1993.Google Scholar
Brouillac, Emile. Laiteries Coopératives des Charentes et du Poitu. Angers, 1907.Google Scholar
Burnett, John. Liquid Pleasures. London, 1999.Google Scholar
Capie, Fernand. Protectionism in the World Economy. Aldershot,U.K., 1992.Google Scholar
Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Cohen, Consumption in Postwar America. New York, 2003.Google Scholar
Coquet, Lucien Les Indicateurs d’origine et la Concurrence deloyale. Paris, 1913.Google Scholar
Daviet, Jen-Pierre. La société Industrielle en France. Paris, 1997.Google Scholar
De Grazia, Victoria, and Furlough, Ellen, eds. The Sex of Things: Gender and Consumption in Historical Perspective. London, 1996.Google Scholar
Duby, George, and Wallon, André. Histoire de la France Rurale. Paris, 1976.Google Scholar
Ferville, Emile. L’industrie laitiere. Le lait, le beurre, le fromage. Paris, 1888.Google Scholar
Filby, Frederick Arthur. A History ofFood Adulteration and Analysis. London, 1934.Google Scholar
Flandrin, Jean-Louis, and Montanari, Massimo. Histoire de l’alimentation. Paris, 1996.Google Scholar
French, Michael, and Phillips, Jim. Cheated not Poisoned? Food Regulation in the United Kingdom, 1875–1938. Manchester, U.K., 2000.Google Scholar
Fridenson, Patrick, and Straus, André. Le capitalisme français. Paris, 1987.Google Scholar
Furlough, Ellen, and Strikwerda, Carl, eds. Consumers Against Capitalism? Consumer Cooperation in Europe, North America, and Japan, 1840–1990. Lanham, Md., 1999.Google Scholar
Gaubeaux, André. Nouveau rapport sur les vacheries du département de la Seine. Paris, 1887.Google Scholar
Ferville, Emile. L’industrie laitiere. Le lait, le beurre, le fromage. Paris, 1888.Google Scholar
Filby, Frederick Arthur. A History ofFood Adulteration and Analysis. London, 1934.Google Scholar
Flandrin, Jean-Louis, and Montanari, Massimo. Histoire de l’alimentation. Paris, 1996.Google Scholar
French, Michael, and Phillips, Jim. Cheated not Poisoned? Food Regulation in the United Kingdom, 1875–1938. Manchester, U.K., 2000.Google Scholar
Fridenson, Patrick, and Straus, André. Le capitalisme français. Paris, 1987.Google Scholar
Furlough, Ellen, and Strikwerda, Carl, eds. Consumers Against Capitalism? Consumer Cooperation in Europe, North America, and Japan, 1840–1990. Lanham, Md., 1999.Google Scholar
Gaubeaux, André. Nouveau rapport sur les vacheries du département de la Seine. Paris, 1887.Google Scholar
Gide, Charles. Coopération et économie sociale, 1886–1904. Paris, 2001.Google Scholar
Girard, Christian, and de Brevans, Marcel . La margarine et le beurre artificiel. Paris, 1889.Google Scholar
Glickman, Lawrence. A Living Wage: American Workers and the Making of Consumer Society. Ithaca, N.Y., 1997.Google Scholar
Guillaume, Pierre. Histoire sociale du lait. Bordeaux, 2004.Google Scholar
Gurney, Peter. Co-operative Culture and the Politics ofConsumption in England, 1870–1930. Manchester, U.K., 1996.Google Scholar
Lachiver, Marcel. Vins, vignes et vignerons. Paris, 1988.Google Scholar
Laiterie Coopérative de Marville. Montmédy, 1899.Google Scholar
Laiterie Production, Conservation, Vente. Paris, 1918.Google Scholar
Lévy-Leboyer, Maurice, and Bourguignon, François F.. L’économie française au XIX siècle. Analyse macro-économique. Paris, 1985.Google Scholar
Monier, François, François, Chesney, and Roux, Emile E.. Traité théorique et pratique sur les fraudes et falsifications. Paris, 1909.Google Scholar
Murard, Leon, and Zylberman, Patrick. L'hygiene dans la Republique. Paris, 1996.Google Scholar
Nourrisson, Didier. Le buveur au XIXe siècle. Paris, 1990.Google Scholar
Paul, Henri. From Knowledge to Power: The Rise ofthe Science Empire in France, 1860–1939. Cambridge, U.K., 1985.Google Scholar
Pech, Rémy. Entreprise viticole et capitalisme en Languedoc Roussillon. Toulouse, 1975.Google Scholar
Roudie, Philippe. Vignobles et vignerons du Bordelais, 1850–1980. Paris, 1988.Google Scholar
Salais, Robert, and Storper, Michael. Les mondes de production. Paris, 1993.Google Scholar
Sekora, John. Luxury: The Concept in Western Thought. Baltimore, Md., 1978.Google Scholar
Stanziani, Alessandro. Histoire de la qualite alimentaire, XIXe-XXe siècles. Paris, 2005.Google Scholar
Stearns, Peter. Consumerism in World History: The Global Transformation of Desire. London, 2001.Google Scholar
Storrs, Landon. Civilizing Capitalism: The National Consumers’ League, Women’s Activism and Labor Standards in the New Deal Era. Chapel Hill, N.C., 2000.Google Scholar
Strasser, Susan, Charles, McGovern, and Judt, Matthias, eds. Getting and Spending: European and American Societies in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, U.K., 1998.Google Scholar
Topalov, Christian, ed. Laboratoires du nouveau siècle. Paris, 1999.Google Scholar
Trentmann, Frank, ed. Paradoxes of Civil Society: New Perspectives on Modern British and German History. New York, 2000.Google Scholar
Vérin, Léon. La répression des fraudes dans le commerce du beurre et la fabrication de la margarine. Lille, 1905.Google Scholar
Verley, Patrick. Nouvelle histoire économiquedela France contemporaine. L’industrialisation, 1830–1914. Paris, 1995.Google Scholar

Articles and Essays

Akerlof, George. “The Market for Lemons.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 84(3): (1970), 488–500.Google Scholar
Association syndicale des viticulteurs-propriétaires de la Gironde. Bulletin de l’association syndicale des viticulteurs-propriétaires de la Gironde. Bordeaux, 1906.Google Scholar
Atkins, Peter. “Sophisticated Detected, or the Adulteration of the Milk Supply, 1850–1914.” Social History 16 (3): (1991): 300–21.Google Scholar
Benjamin, Klein, and Leffler, Keith “The Role of Market Forces in Assuring Contractual Performance.” Journal of Political Economy 98 (4): (1981): 615–41.Google Scholar
Berg, Maxine. “From Imitation to Invention: Creating Commodities in Eighteenth-Century Britain.” Economic HistoryReview 55 (1): (2002): 1–30.Google Scholar
Brouardel, Fernand, and Pouchet, Michel. “Falsification des beurres a l’aide de la margarine ou autres produits similaires.” Recueil des Travaux du Comite Consultatif d’Hygiene 16: (1887): 484–96.Google Scholar
Chessel, Marie-Emmanuelle. “From America to Europe: Educating Consumers.” Contemporary European History 11 (Feb. 2002): 165–75.Google Scholar
Collins, Edward J.T. “Food Adulteration and Food Safety in Britain in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries.” Food Policy 18 (April 1993): 95–108.Google Scholar
“Congres international d’Hygiene de Bruxelles, 2–8 September 1902.” Revue dHygiene et de Police Sanitaire 2 (1903): 769–907.Google Scholar
Dupre, Robert. ““If it is Yellow, it Must be Butter”: Margarine Regulation in North America since 1886.” Journal of Economic History 59 (2): (1992), 353–71.Google Scholar
Dupuy, Jean-Pierre, François, Eymadr-Duvernay, Olivier, Favereau, Andre, Orlean, Robert, Salais, and Thevenot, Kaurent. “L’economie des conventions.” Revue economique [Special Issue] 40 (March 1989): 141–400.Google Scholar
Glaeser, Edward, and Shleifer, Andrei. “The Rise of the Regulatory State.” Journal of Economic Literature 41 (2): (2003): 401–25.Google Scholar
Guy, Kohleen. “Oiling the Wheels of Social Life: Myths and Marketing in Champagne during the Belle Epoque.” French Historical Studies 22 (2): (1999): 211–39.Google Scholar
Law, Marc. “The Origin of State Pure Food Regulation.” Journal of Economic History 63 (4): (2003), 1103–30.Google Scholar
Libecap, Gary. “The Rise of the Chicago Packers and the Origin of the Meat Inspection and Antitrust.” Economic Inquiry 30 (2): (1992), 242–62.Google Scholar
Nelson, Philip. “Advertising as Information.” Journal of Political Economy 82 (4): (1974), 729–54.Google Scholar
Nye, John V. “The Myth of Free-Trade Britain and Fortress France: Tariffs and Trade in the Nineteenth Century.” Journal ofEconomic History 51 (March 1991): 23–46.Google Scholar
Ogier, Jean, and Bordas, François. “Dangers que presente pour la sante publique la vente du lait ecréme.” Recueil des Travaux du Comite Consultatif d’Hygiene 31 (1901): 25–36.Google Scholar
Olmstead, Alain A., and Paul, Rhode. “The Tuberculosis Cattle Trust: Disease Contagion in an Era of Regulatory Uncertainty.” Journal of Economic History 64 (4): (2004), 929–63.Google Scholar
Peltzman, Stephen. “Toward a More General Theory of Regulation.” Journal of Law and Economics 19(2): (1976), 211–40.Google Scholar
Robin, Maurice. “La sante des vaches laitieres et la production du lait a Paris.” Revue d’hygiene et de police sanitaire 6 (1891): 587–600.Google Scholar
Rubin, Paul. “Information Regulation (Including Regulation of Advertising).” In Encyclopedia ofLaw and Economics, eds. Bouckaert, Boudewijn and De Geest, Gerrit. Cheltenham, U.K., 2000, vol. 3: 271–95.Google Scholar
Service delarépression des fraudes. Bulletin international de la repression des fraudes 7 (May 1909): 153; 34 (Aug. 1911): 273–75.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Carl. “Consumer Information, Product Quality, and Seller Reputation.” Bell Journal of Economics 13 (1): (1982), 20–35.Google Scholar
Simpson, James. “Cooperative and Conflicts: Institutional Innovation in France’s Wine Markets, 1870–1911.” Business History Review 79 (3): (2005), 527–58.Google Scholar
Stanziani, Alessandro. “La fraude dans l’agro-alimentaire. Genese historique: La falsification du vin en France 1880–1905.” Revue d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine 50 (2): (1993), 154–86.Google Scholar
Stanziani, Alessandro. “Wine Reputation and Quality Controls: The Origin ofthe AOCs in Nineteenth-Century France.” European Journal of Law and Economics 18 (2): (2004), 149–67.Google Scholar
Stigler, George. “The Theory of Economic Regulation.” Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 2 (1): (1971), 3–21.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph. “The Causes and Consequences of the Dependence of Quality on Price.” Journal ofEconomic Literature 25 (March 1987): 1–48.Google Scholar
Wood, Donna. “The Strategic Use of Public Policy: Business Support for the 1906 Food and Drug Act.” Business History Review 59 (3): (1985), 403–32.Google Scholar

Unpublished Work

Burnett, John J. The History of Food Adulteration in Britain in the Nineteenth Century, with Special Reference to Bread, Tea and Beer. Ph. D. diss., University of London, 1958.Google Scholar

Government Documents and Reports

Chambre decommercede Paris. Journal des chambres de commerce. Paris, 1875–1914.Google Scholar
Chambre des Députés. Journal officiel, Annexes Parlementaires. Paris, 1873–1914.Google Scholar
Comité Consultatif d’Hygiène Publique. Recueil des travaux du comité consultatif d’hygiene publique de France et des actes officiels de l’administration sanitaire. Paris, 1879–1905.Google Scholar
Dalloz, Désiré ed. Répertoire général de jurisprudence. Paris, 1828–1914.Google Scholar
Ministére du commerce. Annuaire Statistique de la France. Paris, 1875–1914.Google Scholar

Archival Sources

Archives Nationales, Paris, France.Google Scholar
BB 18 (Ministry ofJustice, criminal division) 6023 (plastered wine), 6024 (salt wine), 6025 (watered wine), 6026 (dry raisins wine), 6032 (Frauds in Champagne), 6033 (law courts decisions on food adulteration), 6055 (law 1905). Google Scholar
AN F 12 (Ministry of Industry and Trade) 6858 (commercial relationships with Italy), 6872 (customs on wine), 6873 (Consultatif committee arts and manufactures), 6874 (Wine custom tariffs), 6969 (origin denomination, wine), 6970 (origin denomination, wine, fraud), 7001 (wines and alcohol custom tariffs), 7003 (wine, fiscal regime), 7417 (municipal laboratory in Paris, reports). Google Scholar
AN c (National Assembly archives) 7392 (parliamentary enquiry on wine production and market, 1907). Google Scholar