1785 - Massachusetts enacts the first general food adulteration law in the US.
1850 - California passes a pure food and drink law, one year after the gold rush.
1897 - Congress passes the Tea Importation Act, providing for customs inspection of all tea entering US ports, at the expense of the importers.1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt signs the original Food and Drugs Act, which prohibits interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks, and drugs. The Meat Inspection Act is passed the same day, 30 June. Shocking disclosures of unsanitary 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.
1907 - First Certified Color Regulations, requested by manufacturers and users, list seven colors found suitable for use in foods.
1938 - Congress passes the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDC) of 1938, which contains new provisions:
1939 - First food standards are issued (canned tomatoes, tomato puree, and tomato paste).
1951 - "Delaney Committee" starts a congressional investigation of the safety of chemicals in foods and cosmetics, laying the foundation for effective controls over pesticides, food additives, and colors.
1954 - Pesticides Amendment spells out procedures for setting safety limits for pesticide residues on raw agricultural commodities.
1958 - Food Additives Amendment is enacted, requiring manufacturers of new food additives to establish safety. The Delaney proviso prohibits the approval of any food additive shown to induce cancer in humans or animals.
1960 - Color Additive Amendments are enacted, requiring manufacturers to establish the safety of color additives in foods, drugs, and cosmetics.
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 administration of sanitation programs for milk, shellfish, food service, and interstate travel facilities, and for poisoning and accident prevention, transferred from other units of the Public Health Service.
1973 - Low-acid food-processing regulations are issued to ensure that low-acid packaged foods have adequate heat treatment and are not hazardous.
1978 - Vitamins and Minerals Amendments stop FDA from establishing standards limiting the potency of vitamins and minerals in food supplements or regulating them as drugs based solely on potency.
1980 - Infant Formula Act establishes FDA controls to ensure necessary nutritional content and safety.
1982 - Tamper-resistant packaging regulations are issued by FDA to prevent poisonings such as the deaths from cyanide placed in Tylenol capsules.
1990 - Nutritional 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 as to food standards, nutrition labeling, and health claims.
1994 - Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act establishes specific labeling requirements, provides a regulatory framework, and authorizes FDA to promulgate good manufacturing practice regulations for "dietary supplements" and "dietary ingredients" and classifies them as food. The act also establishes a commission to recommend how to regulate label claims.
1996 - Food Quality Protection Act establishes new safety standards for pesticide residues in all foods and applies them to raw and processed foods.
Source: US FDA Publication BG 95-1, published August 1995.
