Skip to main content

Adulteration

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Food Law and Regulation for Non-Lawyers

Part of the book series: Food Science Text Series ((FSTS))

  • 927 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter presents the first of two prohibited acts under US food law – adulteration. The concept of adulteration will be traced from its origins in the 1906 Act through the adulteration amendments of the 1950s and 1960s. It will define regulatory definitions and standards of proof required for regulatory agencies to take enforcement actions. The chapter expounds on the idea of economic adulteration, intentional adulteration, indirect adulteration, and the relationship to FSMA, GMPs, tolerances, action levels, and standards of identity. It introduces the adulteration amendments covering topics such as food additives, animal drug residues, and the Delaney clause. It leaves for a later chapter a deeper discussion on food and color additives.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    34 Stat. 768 (repealed 1938).

  2. 2.

    21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(1) (2014).

  3. 3.

    21 U.S.C. §346.

  4. 4.

    United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, Additives in Meat and Poultry Products, available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/additives-in-meat-and-poultry-products/additives-in-meat-and-poultry-products.

  5. 5.

    Id.

  6. 6.

    See, F. Leslie Hart, A History of the Adulteration of Food Before 1906, 7 Food Drug Cosmetic Law Journal 5 (Jan. 1952).

  7. 7.

    MOU 225-71-8003, Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration, available at: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/PartnershipsCollaborations/MemorandaofUnderstandingMOUs/DomesticMOUs/ucm115791.htm.

  8. 8.

    United States v. 100 Barrels of Calcium Acid Phosphate , White & Gates 58 (N.D. Cal. 1909).

  9. 9.

    Weeks v. United States, 224 Fed. 64 (2 s Cir. 1915), aff’d on other grounds 245 U.S. 618 (1918).

  10. 10.

    United States v. Schider , 246 Y,S, 519 (1918).

  11. 11.

    See, Guidance for Industry: Action Levels for Poisonous or Deleterious Substances in Human Food and Animal Feed (2000).

  12. 12.

    See, Guidance for Industry: Action Levels for Poisonous or Deleterious Substances in Human Food and Animal Feed (2000) available at: http://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/chemicalcontaminantsmetalsnaturaltoxinspesticides/ucm077969.htm#merc.

  13. 13.

    United States v. An Article of Food Consisting of Cartons of Swordfish, 395 F. Supp. 1184 (S.D.N.Y. 1975) (held mercury in fish was an “added” substance even though present for centuries because it did not occur naturally).

  14. 14.

    622 F.2d 157 (5th Cir. 1980).

  15. 15.

    Id. at 158-159.

  16. 16.

    Id. at 162.

  17. 17.

    United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, Entry Training: FSIS Statutes And Your Role, available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/b751f8c8-ed46-428b-8867-0e5f70c3e394/PHVt-Statutes_Role.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

  18. 18.

    275 F.3d 432 (5th Cir. 2001).

  19. 19.

    232 U.S. 399 (1914).

  20. 20.

    Id. at 412.

  21. 21.

    Id. at 410-11.

  22. 22.

    Id. at 411.

  23. 23.

    Id. at 411.

  24. 24.

    See, Fleming v. Florida Citrus Exch., 358 U.S. 153, 161 (1958).

  25. 25.

    43 F.Supp. 749 (W.D. Mo. 1942).

  26. 26.

    Harrison F. Flippin and George M. Eisenberg, The Salmonella Problem, Trans. Am. Clin. Climatol Assoc. 1960; 71:95-106.

  27. 27.

    NBC News, Foster Farms Salmonella Outbreak Expands (July 4, 2013) available at: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/foster-farms-salmonella-outbreak-expands-n148466.

  28. 28.

    Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention , 2013 Progress Report on Six Key Pathogens Compared to 2006-208, available at: http://www.cdc.gov/foodnet/data/trends/trends-2013-progress.html.

  29. 29.

    United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, FSIS Regulator y Perspective (available at: http://www.aphl.org/conferences/proceedings/Documents/2012/2012-PulseNet-OutbreakNet/007-Edelstein.pdf).

  30. 30.

    See Id.

  31. 31.

    See, Id.

  32. 32.

    H.R. Rep. No. 82-2356 at 4 (1952).

  33. 33.

    See, Color Additives: Provisional Regulations; Postponement of Closing Dates, 42 Fed. Reg. 6991(1977).

  34. 34.

    See, Listing of D&C Orange No. 17 for Use in Externally Applied Drugs and Cosmetics, 51 Fed. Reg. 28,331 (1986); Listing of D&C Red No. 19 for Use in Externally Applied Drugs and Cosmetics, 51 Fed. Reg. 28,346, 28,539 (1986).

  35. 35.

    Public Citizen v. Young, 831 F.2d 1108 (D.C. Cir. 1987).

  36. 36.

    Id. at 122.

  37. 37.

    Norman R. Goldsmith, M.D., Dermatitis From Orange I In a Candy Factory, AMA Arch Derm. Syphilol. 1950;62(5):695-696, 695.

  38. 38.

    FDA Consumer Magazine, Animal Health and Consumer Protection (2006) available at: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/ProductRegulation/AnimalHealthandConsumerProtection/.

  39. 39.

    Posada de La Paz et al., Epidemiological Reviews Vo. 23, No. 2, Toxic Oil Syndrome: The Perspective after 20 years (2001).

  40. 40.

    Kate Pickert, Brief History of Melamine (Sept. 17, 2008) available at: http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1,841,757,00.html.

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sanchez, M.C. (2018). Adulteration. In: Food Law and Regulation for Non-Lawyers. Food Science Text Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71703-6_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics