Consumer Protection Laws

Food and Drug

Prior to 1900 and the progressive reforms that accompanied the early part of the 20th century, consumer industries operated with little or no regulation. Consumer protection can be divided into two areas, consumer products and financial products. Congress stepped in to pass laws to govern these areas and create agencies responsible for oversight and education. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 sought to protect consumers from deceptive practices in advertising and labeling. Patent medicines marketed to adults and children often contained high alcohol or opiate content, and the drug makers advertised false claims of the medicines curing all kinds of health [Page 206]conditions. The act required labeling of products and the mandatory listing of the 10 drugs that were on the dangerous list if these drugs were ingredients in a medication. One example is Coca-Cola. Originally, the beverage contained cocaine and an attempt was made in 1909 to outlaw it. The company replaced the cocaine with caffeine and had to negotiate with the government about the amount of caffeine in the drink before it could be legalized.

Drug labeling did not require testing before the medication was marketed. In 1938, the Massengill drug company created a liquid formula of the popular antibiotic sulfanilimide and used diethylene glycol to make the syrup. Multiple deaths occurred, and it was discovered that the solution had not been tested prior to distribution. The chemical used in the medication was toxic. This spurred Congress to pass the Food and Drug Act, expanding consumer protections to include testing and approval processes for new drugs, new inspections for food processing, and testing of all new cosmetics and medical devices. The law required that products must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they are sold to consumers.

In 1958, testing of food additives was added to the law, and in 1962, legislation barred any item that causes cancer in animals from being marketed to humans. These changes came as a result of medical devices that promised cures but harmed users, beauty products that caused blindness, and medications that were largely made from alcohol or harmful chemicals. Monitoring of medications continues today. As recently as 2010, the FDA pulled over-the-counter children's cold medicines and required that they be labeled for various age groups with warnings about dosages.

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