We take for granted that the foods we eat and the drugs we take are safe and won’t poison us or make us sick. This confidence is the result of almost 100 years of needed government regulation of the quality and safety of our food supply. Some of these regulations are mandatory, some are voluntary, and some give consumers a choice by providing information.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for assuring that foods sold in the United States are safe, wholesome and properly labeled. This applies to foods produced domestically, as well as foods from foreign countries. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act are the Federal laws governing food products under FDA’s jurisdiction.

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, which amended the FD&C Act requires most foods to bear nutrition labeling and requires food labels that bear nutrient content claims and certain health messages to comply with specific requirements.

Evolving law 
The US passed its first pure food and drug act in 1906. Since then the law has evolved to deal with other threats to the public safety and health and to give consumers more information about the products they buy. Following are some of the major laws dealing with food, , drugs, and consumer rights.

1906 - The original Pure Food and Drugs Act is passed by Congress on June 30 and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. It prohibits interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks and drugs. The Meat Inspection Act is passed the same day. Shocking disclosures of insanitary conditions in meat-packing plants, the use of poisonous preservatives and dyes in foods, and cure-all claims for worthless and dangerous patent medicines were the major problems leading to the enactment of these laws.

1913 - The law is amended to require food package contents be “plainly and conspicuously marked on the outside of the package in terms of weight, measure, or numerical count.”

1937 - Elixir of Sulfanilamide, containing the poisonous solvent diethylene glycol, kills 107 persons, many of whom are children, dramatizing the need to establish drug safety before marketing and to enact the pending food and drug law.

1938 - The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FDC) Act of 1938 is passed by Congress. The law extends control to cosmetics and therapeutic devices; requires new drugs to be shown safe before they can be sold; provides that safe tolerances be set for unavoidable poisonous substances; authorizes standards of identity, quality, and fill-ofcontainer for foods; authorizes factory inspections; and adds the remedy of court injunctions to the previous penalties of seizures and prosecutions.

1966 - Fair Packaging and Labeling Act requires all consumer products in interstate commerce to be honestly and informatively labeled, with FDA enforcing provisions on foods, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices.

1969 - FDA begins administering Sanitation Programs for milk, shellfish, food service, and interstate travel facilities, and for preventing poisoning and accidents. These responsibilities were transferred from other units of the Public Health Service. 

1970 - Environmental Protection Agency established; takes over FDA program for setting pesticide tolerances. 

1973 - Consumer Product Safety Commission created by Congress; takes over programs pioneered by FDA under 1927 Caustic Poison Act, 1960 Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act, 1966 Child Protection Act, and PHS accident prevention activities for safety of toys, home appliances, etc. 

1980 - Infant Formula Act establishes special FDA controls to ensure necessary nutritional content and safety.

 1982 - Tamper-Resistant Packaging Regulations issued by FDA to prevent poisonings such as deaths from cyanide placed in Tylenol capsules. The Federal Anti-Tampering Act passed in 1983 makes it a crime to tamper with packaged consumer products.  

1988 - The Prescription Drug Marketing Act bans the diversion of prescription drugs from legitimate commercial channels. Congress finds that the resale of such drugs leads to the distribution of mislabeled, adulterated, subpotent, and counterfeit drugs to the public. The new law requires drug wholesalers to be licensed by the states; restricts reimportation from other countries; and bans sale, trade or purchase of drug samples, and traffic or counterfeiting of redeemable drug coupons. 

1990 - Nutrition Labeling and Education Act requires all packaged foods to bear nutrition labeling and all health claims for foods to be consistent with terms defined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The law preempts state requirements about food standards, nutrition labeling, and health claims and, for the first time, authorizes some health claims for foods. The food ingredient panel, serving sizes, and terms such as “low fat” and “light” are standardized. 

1995 - FDA declares cigarettes to be “drug delivery devices.” Restrictions are proposed on marketing and sales to reduce smoking by young people. ◆

Frozen or fresh bread—from page 1

The law was passed because some bakers began making lighter loaves (14 or 15 ounces) that were the same size as the one pound loaves and sold them for slightly less. Consumers would mistakenly buy the lighter bread, thinking they were one pound loaves.

loaves. Hawaii’s “bread weight law” was repealed in 1991, following the passage of the US Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 which established national standards for food quality and labeling.

The union is looking into the possibility that the frozen bread may violate federal law and the Hawaii Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (HRS 328) which prohibits false or misleading labeling or packaging, misrepresentation of foods, and omissions in labeling. Both the federal and Hawaii laws require previously frozen food to be labeled as such (see box, page 1). ◆