Food Safety
The first federal pure food laws were passed in response to Upton Sinclair’s 1906 expose of slaughterhouses in Chicago and growing concerns about the safety of “adulterated” food. Food borne illnesses still break out with some frequency. Recent cases of poisonings from salmonella and E.Coli bacteria have created enough momentum for Congress in late 2010 to pass the most significant update of our food safety laws since 1938. Food safety in the United States is overseen by a number of governmental organizations, the most prominent of which is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There are many efforts in cities and states to improve nutrition and calorie labeling requirements and tackle America’s obesity epidemic.
Cry Wolf Quotes
Meat canned five years ago is just as good as meat canned six months ago….Of course [putting the date on a can] benefits nobody if the meat is just as good with age, like whisky is said to be, as it is without.
We are opposed to a bill…that will put our business in the hands of theorists, chemists, sociologists, etc., and the management and control taken away from the men who have devoted their lives to the upbuilding and perfecting of this great American industry.
There is no question but that this legislation would put Federal bureaucracy in complete control of the size, the weight, the pictorial matter, and the copy on every food package. I wonder if anyone has stopped to think that the idea of seeking Government authority in advance before making a vital business decision is absolutely inconsistent with some of our most fundamental and cherished American traditions….Unless I have been misinformed all these years, I have been under the impression that we are dedicated to the proposition that within reasonable limitations the American citizen is free to do as he pleases…
If you would pass a law which requires unnecessary expense…that expense must to some extent be ultimately borne by the public. Either the consumer or the producer must stand it.
Related Laws and Rules
Resources
California Center for Public Health Advocacy that strives to raise awarness about food safety-related public health issues.
Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity is a think tank devoted to food policy in the United States.
Consumer Federation of America defends the consumer interest in fields ranging from housing and financial services to food safety.
