Science in the kitchen was echoed and affirmed in the science and technology of the growing food industry. By the turn of the century, middle and upper class Americans were concerned with the link between good health and food and were worried about frequently adulterated and befouled food supplies. Toxic chemical preservatives, as well as less harmful adulterants and clear evidence of insects and vermin were routinely being identified in flour, spices, pickles, jams and numerous other products. Well-financed food processing companies, inspired by Post’s and Kellogg’s phenomenal success in packaging, advertising and promoting breakfast cereals, used the same methods to convince buyers of the purity and health benefits of their products, hygienically manufactured in sparkling clean factories equipped with the latest in scientific equipment. By 1900, food processing accounted for 20% of the nation’s manufacturing.

Many of the best known cooking teachers and cookbook authors entered into a mutually supportive role with the food industry and manufacturers of kitchen appliances and gadgets. They happily identified themselves with manufacturers and processors who were applying scientific techniques to food on such a dramatic scale while the manufacturers, in turn, lent the impersonal authority of national industry to the cooking school cooks. The connection with these well-known women to the food business also suggested an image of the industry as an appropriate place for professional women.