Mass Production and Globalizing Foodways

Abstract This chapter tackles the mutually reinforcing interactions between food science, mass production, and global markets in the nineteenth century. Justus von Liebig was a seminal figure, developing the universities of Gießen and Munich into cradles of modern nutritional science. Modern laboratories and experimental stations facilitated chemical interventions in food production. New artificial products such as meat extract and margarine went to market. Technological devices for food production and control, such as the saccharimeter and lactoscope, were developed. The German laboratory model was copied in innovation centres around the world. Mass emigration, especially to the United States, facilitated the spread of knowledge and technology. Immigrant entrepreneurs invested heavily in modern production. The chapter conceptualizes migrants as agents of intercultural transfer. They brokered between different economies, taste regimes, and technical standards, developing new branded products that transformed consumer habits.