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USDA and FDA Formed
President Abraham Lincoln formed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and appointed chemist Charles M. Wetherill to lead the Division of Chemistry, which would become the Bureau of Chemistry in 1901 and the Food and Drug Administration in 1906. -
Pure Food and Drug Act Revised
Congress passed a complete revision of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act in 1938. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 contained several new provisions, including: requiring safe tolerances be set for unavoidable poisonous substances, authorizing standards of identity, quality, and fill-of-container for foods, authorizing factory inspections, and adding the remedy of court injunctions to the previous penalties of seizures and prosecutions. -
Consumer Bill of Rights Introduced
President John F. Kennedy proclaimed the Consumer Bill of Rights, which stated that consumers have a right to safety, to be informed, to choose, and to be heard. These rights have a direct correlation to the many food safety acts and amendments that preceded it, and that were yet to come. -
Food Safety and Quality Service Created
The Food Safety and Quality Service was created to perform meat and poultry grading and inspection. It was later reorganized and renamed the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in 1981. -
Food and Drug Modernization Act Amended
In 1997, the Food and Drug Modernization Act amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Among the major provisions in the Act is an expansion of the FDA’s authority to regulate health and nutrient content claims, and to establish processes related to the food contact substances in new products. -
Blueprint for a New Era of Smarter Food Safety
The FDA announced its intention to develop a Blueprint for a New Era of Smarter Food Safety addressing several areas including traceability, digital technologies, and evolving food business models.
