In response to widespread food adulteration, companies like Nabisco and Quaker Oats began marketing their products as pure and unadulterated, using branding to build consumer trust. These companies capitalized on the growing demand for safe, reliable food, and their success helped to transform the American food industry. This shift marked the beginning of the modern food marketing era.

The rise of purity brands was a response to the anxieties about food safety that were expressed in the literature of the period. Poets and writers often praised these brands as a sign of progress, while others remained skeptical of corporate promises. The branding of purity itself became a subject of literary critique, with writers exploring the gap between marketing claims and reality.