If you purchase frozen or refrigerated foods, and haven’t gotten deathly ill, you can thank DR. MARY ENGLE PENNINGTON, the FDA’s first female lab chief and the person responsible for developing guidelines for retail refrigeration and the safe transport of poultry and dairy.
As the U.S. became more industrial, and people migrated to the cities, the issue of access to farm-fresh meat and dairy products threatened to become an urban health emergency. During her tenure with the FDA, Dr. Pennington researched and developed methods to ensure eggs, chicken, and other perishables could be transported safely. She did this by traveling the nation to investigate refrigerated boxcars, subsequently establishing national standards for their construction and temperature control. She even developed an early method for flash freezing fish!
Nicknamed “Ice Woman” by The New Yorker, Dr. Pennington’s research paved the way for home refrigeration, a revolutionary concept as America became more transient. She has been recognized by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers, made a fellow by the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers, and was the first woman elected to the Poultry Historical Society Hall of Fame. Thanks to her innovative research, we know deviled eggs should not be left in the car before a picnic and it’s safer for your family if you wash your hands after handling raw chicken.
To read more:
- National Women’s Hall of Fame – Mary Engle Pennington
- Mary Engle Pennington: The “Cold Chain” of Food Safety
Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution from United States (No restrictions or No restrictions), via Wikimedia Commons