Ruth deForest Lamb

Ruth deForest Lamb (later Atkinson, 1896 – June 11, 1978) was the first Chief Educational Officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the author of American chamber of horrors: the truth about food and drugs. She organized consumer support for the passage of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, particularly targeting congressional wives and women's groups.

Early life Ruth deForest Lamb was born in 1896 in Hallstead, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Vassar College in 1918. She worked as an advertising copywriter from 1918-1926, one of the first women in the emerging field of advertising. These included products like Lash Lure, a dye for eyelashes, which had led to cases of blindness and death. In the Government building at the Fair, the FDA displayed seventeen boards showing "large, vivid pictures coupled with spare, terse prose".

American chamber of horrors Ruth Lamb used the nickname in the title of her book, American chamber of horrors: the truth about food and drugs (1936). Lamb's book was written in part to counter the criticisms of 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs: Dangers in Everyday Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics (1933) by Arthur Kallet and Frederick J. Schlink. Their book harshly criticized the FDA for not countering the marketing of dangerous and misleading foods, drugs and cosmetics. A manuscript is included in her papers at Vassar College. Her papers also include a manuscript for "Magic Oyster" (1928), an unpublished novel.

Later life In 1942 Ruth deForest Lamb married Henry R. Atkinson and left the FDA. She and her husband traveled in India for some years following World War II.

She eventually returned to Washington, D. C., where she continued to work as a lobbyist for consumer groups such as the National Congress of Parents and Teachers (1942–45). Between 1943 and 1946 she served as a director of Food for Freedom, Ind.

Ruth deForest Lamb died on June 17, 1978.