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Unit 1 The Science of Food
• Coffee contained roasted grain, scorched beans and peas, and
baked horse liver.
• Milk was watered down or had chalk, starch, gelatin, or
borax added.
• Sugar contained sand, dust, and lime.
A number of factors contributed to tampering with food ingre-
dients. These included centralized food processing, greed, and
declining personal accountability.
The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was established in
1862 to oversee food production and agricultural research. However,
it was given little authority to monitor or enforce the safety of the food
supply. Harvey Wiley was appointed head chemist of the USDA in 1883.
He began a campaign to eliminate misnamed and adulterated foods.
Wiley’s work led to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. This act
authorized Wiley’s department to regulate and monitor the U.S. food
supply. His Bureau of Chemistry ultimately became the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA). In 1938, Congress expanded the authority
of the FDA in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. These two laws are
the basis for all the rules and regulations written by the FDA. Both
the FDA and the USDA are still the key regulatory agencies for the
food industry. See 1-4.
Government Regulation Today
The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act contains detailed regulations
for the production and interstate trade of foods. Over the years, the
act has been updated to better protect U.S. citizens. Such updates have
been in response to new research fi ndings.
The act has done more than provide a set of enforceable regulations.
It has served as a basis for developing recommendations for safe food
handling. These recommendations are published in the FDA Food Code.
This reference is available to anyone seeking information on how
to prevent foodborne illness in retail and food service operations.
Restaurants, grocery stores, and institutions such as schools and
hospitals use the Food Code as a guide to handling food safely. State
and local agencies also use it as a model for writing their own food
safety rules.
The FDA now regulates about 80 percent of the U.S. food supply.
This includes all domestic and imported food, except meat, poultry,
and processed egg products. The agency also approves food additives,
sets food labeling guidelines, and creates standards for the safety
and wholesomeness of food products.
Signifi cant changes in the agency’s food safety focus were signed
into law with the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010. When fully
implemented, the FDA will shift from responding to food contamination
to taking steps that will actually prevent it. Tools are being developed
to quickly track foods that may be contaminated. Implementation of
the law will take two to three years and approximately 12,000 new
trained inspectors at an estimated cost of $600 million by 2015.