In 1952, Chicagoans began to notice something strange about the meat being sold in restaurants, butcher shops, and grocery stores across the city. At first, it sounded like a rumor, a few odd flavors, a few suspicious shipments, a few questions nobody wanted to answer.

But as federal investigators followed the trail through packing plants, city inspectors, famous restaurants, and the shadowy world of organized crime, the truth became harder to ignore.

This episode of Lost Chicago looks back at a forgotten food scandal that shook the city’s trust in its own dinner tables — and revealed that in Chicago, even the most ordinary meal could hide a disturbing secret.