Editing Justus von Liebig (section)

===Liebig and the chemistry of food===

====Methods of cookery====
Liebig drew upon his work in plant nutrition and plant and animal metabolism to develop a theory of nutrition, which had implications for cookery. In his ''Researches on the Chemistry of Food'' (1847) Liebig argued that eating not only meat fibre, but also meat juices, which contained various inorganic chemicals, was important. These vital ingredients would be lost during conventional boiling or roasting in which cooking liquids were discarded.  For optimum nutritional quality, Liebig advised that cooks should either sear the meat initially to retain fluids, or retain and use cooking liquids (as in soups or stews).<ref name=Brock/>{{rp|217–218}}

Liebig was acclaimed in ''The Lancet'' for revealing "the true principles of cookery", and physicians promoted "rational diets" based on his ideas. Well-known British cookery writer [[Eliza Acton]] responded to Liebig by modifying the cookery techniques in the third edition of her ''Modern Cookery for Private Families'', and subtitling the edition accordingly.<ref name=Brock/>{{rp|218–219}}  Liebig's idea that "[[searing]] meat seals in the juices", though still widely believed, is not true.<ref name=McGee2004>{{cite book |chapter=The Searing Question | last=McGee |first=Harold | title=On Food and Cooking | publisher=Scribner | year=2004 | isbn=0-684-80001-2|page=161| edition=Revised }}</ref>

====Liebig's Extract of Meat Company====
[[File:Liebig Company Memorial Trading Card 01.12.001 front.tif|thumb|right|upright|Memorial tradecard commemorating Justus Liebig, from [[Liebig's Extract of Meat Company]] ]]
[[File:Liebig-Muenchen.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Justus Liebig statue, [[Munich]], Germany]]

{{Main|Liebig's Extract of Meat Company}}

Building on his theories of the nutritional value of meat fluids, and seeking an inexpensive nutrition source for Europe's poor, Liebig developed a formula for producing beef extract.  The details were published in 1847 so that "the benefit of it should ... be placed at the command of as large a number of persons as possible by the extension of the manufacture, and consequently a reduction in the cost".<ref name=Quinologist>{{cite book|editor-last1=Mattison|editor-first1=Richard V.|title=The Quinologist|year=1883|publisher=s.n.|location=Philadelphia|pages=55–58|volume=VI|number=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NADAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA55|access-date=4 November 2014}}</ref>

Production was not economically feasible in Europe, where meat was expensive, but in [[Uruguay]] and [[New South Wales]], meat was an inexpensive byproduct of the leather industry. In 1865, Liebig partnered with Belgian engineer [[George Christian Giebert]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://negocios.elpais.com.uy/noticias/multinacional-liebig-fray-bentos.html |title=Liebig's in Fray Bentos|date=2 July 2018|work=[[El País (Uruguay)|El País]]|language=es}}</ref> and was named scientific director of [[Liebig's Extract of Meat Company]], located in [[Fray Bentos]] in Uruguay.<ref name=Cansler/><ref name=NickSkye>{{cite web|last1=Skye|first1=Nick|title=The Liebig chromolithographs, origins of bouillon, Marmite, Oxo and Campbell's soups|url=http://nickyskye.blogspot.com/2012/06/liebig-chromolithographs-part-1-origins.html|website=nickyskye meanderings|access-date=11 November 2014|date=25 June 2012}}</ref>

Other companies also attempted to market meat extracts under the name "Liebig's Extract of Meat".  In Britain, a competitor's right to use the name was successfully defended on the grounds that the name had fallen into general use and become a [[generic term]] before the creation of any particular company.<ref name=Quinologist/> The judge asserted that "Purchasers must use their eyes", and considered the presentation of the products to be sufficiently different to enable the discriminating consumer to determine which of the products bore Liebig's signature and was supported by Liebig himself.<ref name=Quinologist2>{{cite book|editor-last1=Mattison|editor-first1=Richard V.|title=The Quinologist|year=1883|publisher=s.n.|location=Philadelphia|pages=184–186|volume=VI|number=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NADAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA184|access-date=4 November 2014}}</ref>

Liebig's company initially promoted their "meat tea" for its curative powers and nutritional value as a cheap, nutritious alternative to real meat. But such claims did not hold up to scrutiny. In 1868 the German physiologist [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44442675 Edward Kemmerich] ran an experiment involving feeding the extract to dogs, every one of which died. After claims of its nutritional value were questioned, the company emphasized its convenience and flavor, marketing it as a comfort food.<ref name=Cansler>{{cite journal|last1=Cansler|first1=Clay|title=Where's the Beef?|journal=Chemical Heritage Magazine|date=Fall 2013|volume=31|issue=3|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/article/where%E2%80%99s-beef|access-date=20 March 2018|archive-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120095538/https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/article/where%E2%80%99s-beef|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Liebig company worked with popular cookery writers in various countries to popularize their products. German cookery writer [[Henriette Davidis]] wrote recipes for ''Improved and Economic Cookery'' and other cookbooks.   [[Katharina Prato]] wrote an Austro-Hungarian recipe book, ''Die Praktische Verwerthung Kochrecepte'' (1879). [[Hannah M. Young]] was commissioned in England to write ''Practical Cookery Book'' for the Liebig Company. In the United States, [[Maria Parloa]] extolled the benefits of Liebig's extract. Colorful calendars and trading cards were also marketed to popularize the product.<ref name="Brock" />{{rp|234–237}}

The company also worked with British chemist [[Henry Enfield Roscoe]] to develop a related product, which it registered some years after Liebig's death, under the "[[Oxo (food)|Oxo]]" trademark. Oxo was trademarked worldwide in 1899 and in the United Kingdom in 1900. Originally a liquid, Oxo was released in cubed solid form in 1911.<ref name="Brock"/>{{rp|230}}

====Marmite====
Liebig studied other foods, as well. He promoted the use of baking powder to make lighter bread, studied the chemistry of coffee-making and [[oatmeal]].<ref name="Brock"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4o9AQAAIAAJ|title=Scientific American, "Oatmeal"|date=1878|publisher=Munn & Company|pages=25|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|238–248}} He is considered to have made possible the invention of [[Marmite]], because of his discovery that yeast could be concentrated to form [[yeast extract]].<ref name=Boulton>{{cite book|editor-last1=Boulton|editor-first1=Chris|title=Encyclopedia of brewing|date=2012|publisher=Wiley|location=Weinheim|isbn=978-1-4051-6744-4|page=394|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWXcajHd3W0C&pg=PA394|access-date=4 November 2014}}</ref>

'''Infant Formula'''

Liebig produced some of the world's first [[infant formula]], a [[Breast milk|breast-milk]] substitute for babies who could not breast-feed.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://academic.oup.com/jhmas/article-abstract/79/1/1/7223089?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=4 March 2024 |title="They Perished in the Cause of Science": Justus von Liebig's Food for Infants |journal=Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences |doi=10.1093/jhmas/jrad035 |volume=79 |date=12 July 2023 |issue=1 |first=Caroline |last=Lieffers |pages=1–22|pmid=37435903 }}</ref> However, the product proved controversial, even though Liebig did not make any royalties off it. Liebig first came up with the idea based on the struggles of his favorite daughter, Johanna, who struggled to breastfeed her daughter, Carolina, who was born in 1864.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family tree of Johanna von Liebig |url=https://gw.geneanet.org/cvpolier?lang=en&n=von+liebig&p=johanna |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=Geneanet |language=en}}</ref> (Johanna did not want to seek a [[Wet nurse|wet-nurse]], a common but controversial practice at the time.) Carolina, according to Liebig, thrived on the formula. But other scientists were skeptical. One of them, a French doctor in Paris named Jean-Anne-Henri Depaul<!--Q61943621-->, decided to test his formula on four infants whose mothers could not suckle.

Liebig himself prepared the first batches of formula. Depaul first gave it to a set of [[twin]]s, who were born somewhat [[Preterm birth|premature]] and weighed 2.24 [[kilogram]]s (4.93 [[Pound (mass)|pounds]]) and 2.64&nbsp;kg (5.82&nbsp;lbs.). Both died within two days. Depaul tried it on a third baby, born full-term at 3.37&nbsp;kg (7.43&nbsp;lbs.); it soon began passing green "[https://www.atlchildrens.com/diarrhea-breastfed-infants starvation stools]" and died within three days. A fourth child, weighing 2.76&nbsp;kg, also developed green stools and died within four days. At this point, Depaul stopped the experiment.

At first, Depaul kept the experiment to himself. But he attended a meeting of the [[Académie Nationale de Médecine|French Academy of Medicine]]. And while didn't want to say anything at first, he felt he had to after another member of the Academy rose to speak, a [[pharmacist]] named [[Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste-Gaston Guibourt|Nicholas-Jean-Baptiste-Gaston Guibourt]]. Guibourt had grave doubts about Liebig's artificial [[milk]], calling it "fake milk" (in [[French language|French]], "lait factice"). As historian [https://www.kingsu.ca/about-us/staff-directory/contact_id/5790 Caroline Lieffers] has written, "He [i.e., Guibourt] worried that the substance would either spoil in liquid form or lose its nutritive quality and convenience in solid form." Upon hearing Guibourt speak, Depaul felt it incumbent upon him to speak as well, and mentioned his experiments with Liebig's formula.

Many [[Ethics|ethical]] questions were quickly raised. Publications in France generally supported Depaul, while German publications rallied to Liebig's defense.