Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 created what is today known as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. This agency is the oldest comprehensive consumer protection agency within the U.S. government. In addition to the creation of that agency, the law prohibited interstate commerce in problematic food and drugs such as adulterated and misbranded products. One of the most important aspects of the law was the addition of regulatory functions to some of the early activities already occurring within the agency that became the FDA. After its initial passage, the original act was amended with small changes in 1912, 1913, and 1923; a larger change and expansion in 1933; and replacement with a new act in 1938.

The origins of ...