Pure Food and Drug Act

Uncommon card · No. 185626

The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was the first of a series of significant consumer protection laws enacted by the United States Congress, and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Its main purpose was to ban foreign and interstate traffic in adulterated or mislabeled food and drug products, and it directed the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Bureau of Chemistry to inspect products and refer offenders to prosecutors. It required that active ingredients be placed on the label of a drug's packaging and that drugs could not fall below purity levels established by the United States Pharmacopeia or the National Formulary. This law is also known as the Wiley Act and Dr. Wiley's Law for USDA Chief Chemist Harvey Washington Wiley's advocacy for its passage. In the late 1800s, the quality of food in the US decreased significantly as populations moved to cities and the time from farm to market increased. Many food producers turned to using dangerous preservatives,...

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