The History Of Food Labeling Laws

Food labels have been a legal requirement in the US since the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) was signed into law in November 1990. The NLEA marked the culmination of a groundbreaking effort to provide information on food labels to help consumers make better choices and encourage food companies to produce healthier food.

Prior to the NLEA, mandatory information on packaged foods was limited, with nutrition information required only on foods making a nutrition claim or those fortified with vitamins, minerals or protein. The NLEA required food packages to contain a detailed, standardized Nutrition Facts label with information such as serving size, the number of calories, and the measure of fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein.

The NLEA gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to set uniform nutrition labeling standards. As a result of the NLEA, most food products were required to have a nutrition fact panel by the mid-1990s. The FDA revised the regulations implementing NLEA, thus changing the look of the nutrition fact panel, in 2020.

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990

Prior to the NLEA, mandatory information on packaged foods was limited, with nutrition information required only on foods making a nutrition claim or those fortified with vitamins, minerals or protein. The NLEA required food packages to contain a detailed, standardized Nutrition Facts label with information such as: serving size; the number of calories; grams of fat, saturated fat, total carbohydrate, fiber, sugars and protein; milligrams of cholesterol and sodium; and certain vitamins and minerals.

The NLEA gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to set uniform nutrition labeling standards. Before 1990, information such as serving size, the number of calories, and the measure of fat, carbohydrates, fiber, etc. was not required on food labels. The NLEA focused on the relationship between food contents and healthy diets, and was the start of providing information to consumers regarding the content of food beyond an ingredient list.

The NLEA amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to give the FDA explicit authority to require nutrition labeling on most food packages and specified the nutrients to be listed in the nutrition label. It also required that nutrients be presented in the context of the daily diet; specified that serving sizes should represent "an amount customarily consumed and which is expressed in a common household measure that is appropriate to the food"; and provided for a voluntary nutrition labeling program for raw fruits, vegetables, and fish.

The NLEA also required standard definitions to be developed that characterized the level of nutrients and required that the FDA provide for approved health claims. The NLEA's requirements for the content of the nutrition label were very similar to those in the FDA's 1990 proposal, except that the NLEA included complex carbohydrates and sugars in the list of required nutrients. It also permitted the agency to add or delete nutrients based on a determination that such a change would "assist consumers in maintaining healthy dietary practices."

The NLEA established very tight timeframes for implementing the provisions of the act, requiring the FDA to publish proposed regulations within 12 months and final regulations within 24 months of enactment of the act. The final regulations for the FDA and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) were published on January 6, 1993, mandating nutrition labeling in the form of a Nutrition Facts panel on most packaged foods.

The Pure Food and Drug Act (PFDA) of 1906

The PFDA's main purpose was to ban foreign and interstate traffic in adulterated or mislabelled food and drug products. It directed the Bureau of Chemistry to inspect products and refer offenders to prosecutors. The law 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.

The PFDA was a response to Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, 'The Jungle', which revealed food adulteration and unsanitary practices in meat production. The public outcry that followed prompted Congress to establish federal responsibility for public health and welfare. The Act prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce and laid the foundation for the nation's first consumer protection agency, the FDA.

The PFDA defined "misbranding" and "adulteration" for the first time and prescribed penalties for each. It recognised the U.S. Pharmacopeia and the National Formulary as standards authorities for drugs but made no similar provision for federal food standards. It was principally a "truth in labelling" law designed to raise standards in the food and drug industries and protect the reputations and finances of honest businessmen.

Particular drugs deemed addictive or dangerous, such as alcohol, morphine, opium, and cannabis, had to be listed on the product label if they were present and could not be listed if they were absent. Goods found in violation of the Act were subject to seizure and destruction at the manufacturer's expense, and convictions had to be published as Notices of Judgment.

The PFDA was replaced by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938, which remains the statutory basis for federal regulation of all foods, drugs, biological products, cosmetics, medical devices, tobacco, and radiation-emitting devices by the FDA.

The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) of 1938

The FFDCA was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1938, and has been amended many times since. The act contains ten chapters, with definitions for food, drugs, medical devices, food additives, and dietary supplements. It also includes prohibited acts and penalties, with most violations being treated as civil law, and repeated, intentional, and fraudulent violations covered under criminal law.

The FFDCA requires producers of food additives to demonstrate "to a reasonable certainty that no harm will result from the intended use of an additive." The FDA then issues regulations specifying the conditions under which the additive may be safely used if it is deemed safe. The act also defines cosmetics and prohibits the marketing of adulterated or misbranded cosmetics, although the FDA does not have the authority to order recalls of cosmetics.

The FFDCA has been amended several times to include new provisions and regulations. In 1968, the Electronic Product Radiation Control provisions were added, and the FDA formed the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) to incorporate recommendations from a National Academy of Sciences investigation. In 1976, the act was amended to include regulation for medical devices, requiring them to be classified into one of three classes based on risk level.

The FFDCA has had a significant impact on public health and consumer protection, paving the way for numerous reforms. It has also been a driving force behind the evolution of U.S. food labeling law, with amendments addressing food safety problems, nutrition concerns, economic issues, environmental issues, agricultural protection, and food security threats.

The Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) of 1957

The Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) was passed by the US Congress in 1957 in response to the increasing consumption of poultry products by Americans. The Act requires the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to inspect all domesticated birds when slaughtered and processed for human consumption. The FSIS defines domesticated birds as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, and ratites (added in 2001).

The primary goals of the PPIA are to prevent adulterated or misbranded poultry and poultry products from being sold as food and to ensure that poultry and poultry products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. These requirements apply to both products produced and sold within states and imports, which must be inspected under equivalent foreign standards.

The PPIA also regulates the processing and distribution of poultry products, forbidding the buying, selling, transporting, and importing of dead, dying, disabled, or diseased poultry and products made from poultry that died other than by slaughter. The Act requires certain sanitary, labeling, and container standards to be met to prevent the sale of adulterated or misbranded poultry products. Violations of the PPIA may result in fines and/or imprisonment.

The Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA) of 1970

The EPIA requires inspections of shell egg handlers to control the disposition of restricted eggs. Restricted eggs are defined as eggs with cracks or checks in the shell, dirty eggs, incubator rejects, and inedible, leaker, or loss eggs. The EPIA also mandates that shell eggs sold to consumers contain no more restricted eggs than permitted in U.S. Consumer Grade B and that restricted eggs be disposed of properly.

The EPIA also requires that eggs imported into the US be inspected at the point of entry to determine that they meet the same restricted egg tolerances as domestic producers.

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