When was the nutrition facts label first required by law in the U.S.?
Nutrition facts label
Additionally, there is a requirement for ingredients to be listed in order from highest to lowest quantity, according to their weight.
The label was mandated for most food products under the provisions of the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA), per the recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It was one of several controversial actions taken during the tenure of FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler. The law required food companies to begin using the new food label on packaged foods beginning May 8, 1994. (Meat and poultry products were not covered by NLEA, though the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed similar regulations for voluntary labeling of raw meat and poultry.) Foods labeled before that day could use the old label. This appeared on all products in 1995. The old label was titled "Nutrition Information Per Serving" or simply, "Nutrition Information".
Burkey Belser
Burkey Belser is an American graphic designer. He is best known for his design of the Nutrition facts label, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated food labeling system that appears on all packaged foods in the United States, which has been called by some "the most frequently reproduced graphic in the world." He is also widely known for the pioneering work in legal advertising that earned him a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Legal Marketing Association as well as induction into that organization's Hall of Fame.
Food policy
The history of food policy in the United States started in the 1880s with policies being carried out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1883, Harvey W. Wiley, M.D., was appointed chief chemist at USDA. Wiley devoted his career to raising public awareness of problems with adulterated food; developing standards for food processing; and campaigning for the Pure Food and Drug Act, also known as the "Wiley Act". For much of the 1880s, policymakers discussed how to deal with diseased livestock being imported into or exported out of the United States. In 1884, the USDA Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) was created with the purpose of ensuring that diseased livestock could not be used as food. In 1890, the BAI was charged also with testing meats being exported from the U.S. and ensuring these were disease-free. In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) were both signed into law. Both prevent production and sale of adulterated or misbranded foods, the Pure Food and Drug Act focusing on general foods, and FMIA focusing on meats.
Food safety
The first test and major court battle involving the Pure Food and Drug Act was "United States v. Forty Barrels & Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola", an attempt to outlaw Coca-Cola due to its excessive caffeine content. The Meat Inspection Act led to the formation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Between 1906 and 1938, acts were created that monitored food coloration additives, and other chemical additives such as preservatives, as well as food labeling and food marketing.
Mandatory country-of-origin labeling of food sold in the United States
"Under §304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended (), every imported item must be conspicuously and indelibly marked in English to indicate to the "ultimate purchaser" its country of origin." According to the U.S. Customs, generally defined the "ultimate purchaser" is the last U.S. person who will receive the goods in the form in which it was imported.
Seafood mislabelling
However, the 1906 Act had a number of problems. In 1938, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (52 US Stat. 1040) was signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt replacing or updating most of the 1906 Act. The 1938 Act provides much of the statutory framework that exists today. In 20 chapters, this Act defines food, among other regulated areas, and proper food labeling. For instance, 21 USC § 403, Misbranded Food, states, "A food shall be deemed to be misbranded: (a) (1) If its labeling is false or misleading in any particular… (b) If it is offered for sale under the name of another food." Seafood is, thus, misbranded if the package claims to contain one species of fish but actually contains another species of fish that would mislead.
Center for Science in the Public Interest
CSPI advocates for clearer nutrition and food labeling. For example, labeling of "low-fat" or "heart healthy" foods in restaurants must now meet specific requirements established by the Food and Drug Administration as of May 2, 1997. In 1994, the group first brought the issue of high saturated fat in movie popcorn to the public attention. In 2003, it worked with lawyer John F. Banzhaf III to pressure ice cream retailers to display nutritional information about their products.
Seafood mislabelling
After just over a century as a nation, the United States began to recognize, once again, the need to regulate food packaging. In 1898, the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists established a Committee on Food Standards headed by Harvey W. Wiley and thereafter states began incorporating these standards into their food statutes. In the US, the Lacey Act of 1900 provided for criminal and civil penalties for transporting certain species of wildlife in commerce. While the Lacey Act was directed toward conservation efforts, the law also created a de facto labeling requirement for certain types of products, such as fish.
Jelly bean rule
The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) is a United States Federal law that was signed in 1990. This law regulates nutrition labeling and nutrient content claims on foods regulated by the FDA. In 1993, health claim regulations were implemented to the NLEA. According to the NLEA, under 21 CFR §101.8, the general criteria that all health claims had to meet were:The rule stating that food had to contain 10 percent DV without fortification of one of the six nutrients (Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, Calcium, Protein, and Fiber) is commonly referred to as the Jelly Bean Rule.
Cooking
Along with changes in food, starting early in the 20th century, governments have issued nutrition guidelines, leading to the food pyramid (introduced in Sweden in 1974). The 1916 "Food For Young Children" became the first USDA guide to give specific dietary guidelines. Updated in the 1920s, these guides gave shopping suggestions for different-sized families along with a Depression Era revision which included four cost levels. In 1943, the USDA created the "Basic Seven" chart to make sure that people got the recommended nutrients. It included the first-ever Recommended Daily Allowances from the National Academy of Sciences. In 1956, the "Essentials of an Adequate Diet" brought recommendations which cut the number of groups that American school children would learn about down to four. In 1979, a guide called "Food" addressed the link between too much of certain foods and chronic diseases, but added "fats, oils, and sweets" to the four basic food groups.
Food policy
The Bureau of Chemistry, which was charged with enforcing the Pure Food and Drug Act, was reorganized in 1927, becoming the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration, and eventually came to be called the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1931. In 1938, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed by Congress, giving the FDA authority to set food safety standards. The FDA was reorganized to be under the direction of the Department of Health and Human Services in 1940. The Agricultural Marketing Act (AMA) was passed in 1946, allowing inspection of exotic and game animals on a pay-by-case basis, and giving the USDA the authority to inspect, certify and identify the class, quality and condition of agricultural products.
Nutrition facts label
With regards to health claims and nutrition (composition) claims, these are harmonised in the EU through Regulation 1924/2006, amended. In November 2012, the European Commission published two new regulations: Regulation (EC) No. 1047/2012 and Regulation (EC) No.1048/2012.
Certain nutrition claim groups as of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 had to be changed. Moreover, the health claims associated to barley beta-gluten were amended (e.g. lowering blood cholesterol).
Dietary Supplements (database)
Dietary supplements were first regulated in by the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938. In 1941 the United States Food and Drug Administration proferred definitions for dietary supplementary foods which included minerals, vitamins and other specialized supplements. In the early 1970s the FDA tried to restrict the definition of dietary supplements to essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. However, as the 1970s progressed, a 1974 court decision and legislation that passed in 1976 would not allow such action. In 1994, against recommendations from the FDA, the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) was passed. This act defined dietary supplements, made safety a matter of regulation, stated the requirements for approved third party literature, and regulated label content.
Egg allergy
In the United States, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) requires companies to disclose on the label whether a packaged food product contains any of these eight major food allergens, added intentionally: cow's milk, peanuts, eggs, shellfish, fish, tree nuts, soy and wheat. This list originated in 1999 from the World Health Organisation Codex Alimentarius Commission. To meet FALCPA labeling requirements, if an ingredient is derived from one of the required-label allergens, then it must either have its "food sourced name" in parentheses, for example "Casein (milk)," or as an alternative, there must be a statement separate but adjacent to the ingredients list: "Contains milk" (and any other of the allergens with mandatory labeling). The European Union requires listing for those eight major allergens plus molluscs, celery, mustard, lupin, sesame and sulfites.
Nutrilite
In 1948, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seized shipments of Nutrilite, then distributed by a California firm, Mytinger & Casselberry Inc. The FDA claimed that a booklet with the product made false claims that it would cure diseases. The distributor brought suit, claiming the seizures were unconstitutional. In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the seizure was constitutional.
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the American Congress was evaluating several bills which would have increased the powers of the FDA. One of these acts, the "Nutrition Advertising Coordination Act of 1991" would have tightened the regulations regarding supplement labeling. In response to the proposed bill, many health food companies began lobbying the government to vote down the laws and told the public that the FDA would ban dietary supplements. A notable ad featured the actor Mel Gibson being raided and arrested by FDA agents because he was taking vitamin C supplements. Gerald Kessler, chief executive of Nature Plus, a dietary supplement manufacturer and one of the leaders of the lobbying effort, accused the FDA of having "a bias against the supplement industry for 50 years."
Regulation of food and dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The primary basis under which food may be deemed misbranded under the Act is if "its labeling is false or misleading in any particular". Labeling is defined elsewhere in the Act, and includes:
Blondell Reynolds Brown
Menu Labeling: Authorized legislation requiring chain restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide to label menus with nutritional information, the most comprehensive menu labeling bill in the country. The bill requires the listing of fat, sodium and sugar in addition to calories
Clean Plate Club
The Clean Plate Club was the beginning of a campaign first established in 1917 when the United States Congress passed the Food and Fuel Control Act or Lever Act. This gave the President the power to "regulate the distribution, export, import, purchase and storage of food." President Woodrow Wilson released Executive order 2679-A creating the U.S. Food Administration and appointed Herbert Hoover as the head, enforcing this act. This organization was given the task of making sure that the limited amount of food America had as a result of World War I didn’t go to waste, and to avoid importation of food as much as possible. Hoover knew that many Americans were willing to volunteer and had a strong sense of patriotism during the war, so he used that to his advantage when he advertised the idea of the “Clean Plate” campaign. Hoover promoted this idea to children who attended school with a pledge that read, “At table I’ll not leave a scrap of food upon my plate. And I’ll not eat between meals, but for supper time I’ll wait.” This targeted children too young to understand the value of food in the difficult economic time. Many necessities such as flour and sugar were in short supply, so Hoover used a sense of American nationalism to encourage families to take appropriate rations and save food. His goal was for people to eat less, use less essential ingredients, and to finish their entire meal. By doing this, young children developed the habit of eating everything given to them, thus “cleaning their plate.”
Regulation of therapeutic goods
In the United States, regulation of drugs was originally a state right, as opposed to federal right. But with the increase in fraudulent practices due to private incentives to maximize profits and poor enforcement of state laws, increased the need for stronger federal regulation. President Roosevelt signed the Federal Food and Drug Act (FFDA) in 1906 which established stricter standards. A 1911 Supreme Court decision, "United States vs. Johnson", established that misleading statements were not covered under the FFDA. This directly led to Congress passing the Sherley Amendment which established a clearer definition of ‘misbranded’.
Legal history of cannabis in the United States
The Pure Food and Drug Act was then passed by the United States Congress in 1906 and required that certain special drugs, including cannabis, be accurately labeled with contents. Previously, many drugs had been sold as patent medicines with secret ingredients or misleading labels. Even after the passage of regulations, there continued to be criticism about the availability of narcotics and around 1910 there was a wave of legislation aimed to strengthen requirements for their sale and remove what were commonly referred to as "loopholes" in poison laws. The new revisions aimed to restrict all narcotics, including cannabis, as poisons, limit their sale to pharmacies, and require doctor's prescriptions. The first instance was in the District of Columbia in 1906, under "An act to regulate the practice of pharmacy and the sale of poisons in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes". The act was updated in 1938 to the Federal Pure Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 which remains in effect even today, creating a legal paradox for federal sentencing. Under this act, the framework for prescription and non-prescription drugs and foods are set, along with standards as well as the enforcing agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "Goods found in violation of the law were subject to seizure and destruction at the expense of the manufacturer. That, combined with a legal requirement that all convictions be published (Notices of Judgment), proved to be important tools in the enforcement of the statute and had a deterrent effect upon would-be violators." Marijuana remains under this law defined as a "dangerous drug".
Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) is a United States law that requires all food labels in the United States to list ingredients that may cause allergic reactions, and was effective as of January 1, 2006. While many ingredients can trigger a food allergy, this legislation only specifies the eight major food allergens. This law was passed largely due to the efforts of organizations such as the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN).
Sugar
On May 20, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced changes to the Nutrition Facts panel displayed on all foods, to be effective by July 2018. New to the panel is a requirement to list "Added sugars" by weight and as a percent of Daily Value (DV). For vitamins and minerals, the intent of DVs is to indicate how much should be consumed. For added sugars, the guidance is that 100% DV should not be exceeded. 100% DV is defined as 50 grams. For a person consuming 2000 calories a day, 50 grams is equal to 200 calories and thus 10% of total calories—the same guidance as the World Health Organization. To put this in context, most 12 ounce (335 mL) cans of soda contain 39 grams of sugar. In the United States, a government survey on food consumption in 2013–2014 reported that, for men and women aged 20 and older, the average total sugar intakes—naturally occurring in foods and added—were, respectively, 125 and 99 g/day.
Serving size
Serving sizes are found on both the Food Pyramid and its successor program MyPlate as well as nutrition labels, and has two related but differing meanings. The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion sets the standards for My Plate and related guidelines. The FDA defines the "Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed" (RACC) tables used by food manufacturers to determine the serving size on the Nutrition Facts Panel, and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services labels.
The nutrition facts label is designed to give consumers important nutritional information about a product and allow comparisons with other food. The serving size indicates the amount of food for which the nutrition information is shown. RACCs were established by regulation in 1993 in response to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and were based on how much food people typically eat, balanced with desired portion size. Ice cream is the classic example where the RACC is 1/2 cup, but people more often consume more.
Center for Science in the Public Interest
In 1994, CSPI petitioned the FDA to require trans fat to be added to Nutrition Facts labels, and in 2004, with stronger evidence of trans fat's harmfulness, CSPI petitioned FDA to ban partially hydrogenated oil, the source of most artificial trans fat. In 2003 FDA required trans fat to be labeled, and in 2015 FDA banned the use of partially hydrogenated oil.
Nutrition facts label
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had, on September 19, 2008, notified the Prevention of Food Adulteration (5th Amendment) Rules, 2008, mandating packaged food manufacturers to declare on their product labels nutritional information and a mark from the F.P.O or Agmark (Companies that are responsible for checking food products) to enable consumers make informed choices while purchasing. Prior to this amendment, disclosure of nutritional information was largely voluntary though many large manufacturers tend to adopt the international practice.
Dietary supplement
Although as a general rule, dietary supplement labeling and marketing are not allowed to make disease prevention or treatment claims, the U.S. FDA has for some foods and dietary supplements reviewed the science, concluded that there is significant scientific agreement, and published specifically worded allowed health claims. An initial ruling allowing a health claim for calcium dietary supplements and osteoporosis was later amended to include calcium supplements with or without vitamin D, effective January 1, 2010. Examples of allowed wording are shown below. In order to qualify for the calcium health claim, a dietary supplement much contain at least 20% of the Reference Dietary Intake, which for calcium means at least 260 mg/serving.
In the same year, the European Food Safety Authority also approved a dietary supplement health claim for calcium and vitamin D and the reduction of the risk of osteoporotic fractures by reducing bone loss.
The U.S. FDA also approved Qualified Health Claims (QHCs) for various health conditions for calcium, selenium and chromium picolinate. QHCs are supported by scientific evidence, but do not meet the more rigorous “significant scientific agreement” standard required for an authorized health claim. If dietary supplement companies choose to make such a claim then the FDA stipulates the exact wording of the QHC to be used on labels and in marketing materials. The wording can be onerous: "One study suggests that selenium intake may reduce the risk of bladder cancer in women. However, one smaller study showed no reduction in risk. Based on these studies, FDA concludes that it is highly uncertain that selenium supplements reduce the risk of bladder cancer in women."
Calorie count laws
Nutrition labeling requirements of the Affordable Care Act were signed into federal law in 2010, but implementation was delayed by the FDA several times until they went into effect on May 7, 2018.
Reference Daily Intake
FDA issued a Final Rule on changes to facts panel on May 27, 2016. The new values were published in the Federal Register. New values can be used on labels now. The original deadline to be in compliance was July 28, 2018, but on September 29, 2017 the FDA released a proposed rule that extended the deadline to January 1, 2020 for large companies and January 1, 2021 for small companies. In the interim, products with old or new facts panel content will be on market shelves at same time.
List of nutrition guides
Dietary Reference Intake values are published by the Institute of Medicine for general use, but nutrition facts labels in the U.S. use the older Reference Daily Intake standards instead.
Nutrition labeling requirements of the Affordable Care Act
The FDA estimates the initial cost of compliance to be $315 million with a continuous annual cost of approximately $44 million; however, the food industry estimates that the total costs of completing nutrition analyses, updating labelling, training employees, and developing new menu boards will be roughly 1 billion dollars.
According to the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, there are three elements of cost for this rule: 
According to the FDA, 27% of restaurant chains have obtained the necessary nutrition analysis information for their menu items that comply with state and local regulations. These establishments will not experience additional expenses associated with compliance to national policy.
Nutrition facts label
The FDA does not require any specific typeface be used in the Nutrition Facts label, mandating only that the label "utilize a single easy-to-read type style", though its example label uses Helvetica. However, as regulated by the FDA and the USDA, it is mandatory for certain information listed in the label to be written in English, including: name of the product, net quantity, serving size and number of servings per package, nutrition facts, ingredient list, and name of manufacturer or distributor. The smallest lettering should be at least 1/16th of an inch tall (1.5875 millimeters), based on the height of a lowercase "o".
United States farm bill
Farm bills were first created during the Great Depression to give financial assistance to farmers who were struggling due to an excess crop supply creating low prices, and also to control and ensure an adequate food supply. The first farm bill, known as the Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA), was passed by Congress in 1933 as a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The bill allowed farmers to receive payment for not growing food on a percentage of their land as allocated by the United States Secretary of Agriculture. It also enabled the government to buy excess grain from farmers, which could then be sold later if bad weather or other circumstances negatively affected output. The AAA also included a nutrition program, the precursor to food stamps.
Guideline Daily Amount
A Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) is a nutrition facts label that originally began in 1998 as a collaboration between the UK government, the food industry and consumer organizations. The process was overseen by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD). To help consumers make sense of the nutrition information provided on food labels, they translate science into consumer friendly information, providing guidelines on pack that help consumers put the nutrition information they read on a food label into the context of their overall diet.
Center for Science in the Public Interest
In 2010, CSPI successfully lobbied for a provision, which was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act, to require calorie labeling on menus at chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments nationwide. The Food and Drug Administration proposed regulations for menu labeling in 2011, and CSPI has since worked to continue to mobilize support for national menu labeling, diffuse opposition from Congress and special interests, and encourage the FDA to strengthen the final regulations and release them in a timely manner. Menu labeling is expected to be implemented nationally in 2018.
History of USDA nutrition guides
The history of USDA nutrition guides includes over 100 years of American nutrition advice. The guides have been updated over time, to adopt new scientific findings and new public health marketing techniques. The current guidelines are the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015 - 2020. Over time they have described from 4 to 11 food groups. Various guides have been criticized as not accurately representing scientific information about optimal nutrition, and as being overly influenced by the agricultural industries the USDA promotes.
Radura
As part of its approval, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires since 1986 that irradiated foods include labeling with either the statement "treated with radiation" or "treated by irradiation," along with the Radura. In the USA, irradiation labeling requirements apply only to foods sold in stores. For example, irradiated spices or fresh strawberries should be labeled. Irradiation labeling does not apply to restaurant foods or processed foods. (NOTE: The Radura symbol as compulsory under FDA-rule has a design slightly different from the Codex Alimentarius version; the 'leaves' being empty areas.)
Roller Milled White Enriched Flour
In the 1930s and 1940s, specific deficiency disease syndromes were first identified and documented in the United States. In order to improve the nutritional status of the population, in 1941 the FDA established a standard of identity for any flour labeled as enriched. These standards have been amended over the years, but they continue as the basis for the addition of thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, and iron, with the addition of calcium as optional. Under this regulation, fortification of flour and bread products is not mandatory, but if a product is labeled as enriched, it must meet the standards of identity described in the FDA regulations. The National Labeling Education Act of 1990 provided for federal preemption of standards of identity, nullifying any state laws that made enrichment of flour and bread products mandatory.
Nutrition facts label
In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed several simultaneous improvements to nutrition labeling for the first time in over 20 years. The proposed changes were based on trends of consumption of nutrients of public health importance. However, studies had shown that the majority of the U.S. population could not understand the information in the then current Nutrition Facts Label. Nutrition label numeracy is particularly low in older individuals, of black and Hispanic race/ethnicity, who are unemployed, born outside of the US, have lower English proficiency, lower education achievement, lower income, or live in the South.
Diet Coke Plus
On December 10, 2008, the United States Food and Drug Administration wrote a Warning Letter to The Coca-Cola Company that Diet Coke Plus violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The term "plus" is a regulated term on food and beverages. A food may be labeled "plus" to describe its nutrients only if it contains at least 10% more of the Reference Daily Intake or Daily Reference Value compared to the usual amount. Because Diet Coke Plus labeling does not indicate the increased amount of nutrients, it cannot use the word "plus" on its label. Regardless, snack foods, such as carbonated soda, may never use the word "plus" because the FDA does not consider it appropriate to fortify snack foods. The FDA required The Coca-Cola Company to detail corrective action within 15 days.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide nutritional advice for Americans who are more than 2 years old. The Guidelines are published every 5 years by the US Department of Agriculture, together with the US Department of Health and Human Services. The most recent edition is the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The nominal purpose of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is to help health professionals and policymakers to advise Americans about healthy choices for their diet. Although the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are purported to be based on a systematic review of the current body of nutrition science, the Advisory Committee tasked with formulating the plan for retrieval and analysis of the scientific evidence for the current edition of the DGA used a less than rigorous process for assessing the health effects of consumption of saturated fat and salt and for assessing the health effects of a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. This less than rigorous review of the nutrition science literature resulted in omission of multiple large, high-quality, clinical trials and also omission of some high-quality prospective observational studies. Some Advisory Committee members also had conflicts-of-interest that in some cases were not fully disclosed. For these reasons, the quality of the Advisory Committee's Scientific Report and the validity of the 2015 - 2020 DGA itself has been challenged by critics as being unduly influenced by commercial interests and as being flawed due to confirmation bias of some members of the Advisory Committee.
Medical food
Medical foods are not required to undergo premarket review or approval by FDA. Additionally, they are exempted from the labeling requirements for health claims and nutrient content claims under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. In 2016 the FDA published an update: Guidance for Industry: Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Foods; Second Edition. Definitions and labeling requirements are included.
Food Quality Protection Act
The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), or H.R.1627, was passed unanimously by Congress in 1996 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 3, 1996. The FQPA standardized the way the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would manage the use of pesticides and amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. It mandated a health-based standard for pesticides used in foods, provided special protections for babies and infants, streamlined the approval of safe pesticides, established incentives for the creation of safer pesticides, and required that pesticide registrations remain current.
Nutrition facts label
The nutrition facts label (also known as the nutrition information panel, and other slight variations) is a label required on most packaged food in many countries. Most countries also release overall nutrition guides for general educational purposes. In some cases, the guides are based on different dietary targets for various nutrients than the labels on specific foods.
History of the Food and Drug Administration
In June 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law the Food and Drug Act, also known as the "Wiley Act" after its chief advocate. The Act prohibited, under penalty of seizure of goods, the interstate transport of food which had been "adulterated," with that term referring to the addition of fillers of reduced "quality or strength," coloring to conceal "damage or inferiority," formulation with additives "injurious to health," or the use of "filthy, decomposed, or putrid" substances. The act applied similar penalties to the interstate marketing of "adulterated" drugs, in which the "standard of strength, quality, or purity" of the active ingredient was not either stated clearly on the label or listed in the "United States Pharmacopoeia" or the "National Formulary". The act also banned "misbranding" of food and drugs. The responsibility for examining food and drugs for such "adulteration" or "misbranding" was given to Wiley's USDA Bureau of Chemistry.
Nutrition facts label
Food products sold in Mexico use the NOM-051-SCFI-1994 "Información nutrimental" product labelling standard, very similar to "Nutrition Facts" in the US. The Official Mexican Standard, or NOM ("Norma Oficial Mexicana"), was developed by the Mexican Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Promotion ("Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial"), now a part of the Secretary of the Economy (SECOFI). It entered into effect on January 24, 1996 and defines "General specifications for labelling foods and pre-bottled non-alcoholic beverages."
Reference Daily Intake
On May 27, 2016, the FDA updated the regulations to change the RDI and Daily Values to reflect current scientific information. Until this time, the Daily Values were still largely based on the 1968 RDAs. The new regulations make several other changes to the nutrition facts label to facilitate consumer understanding of the calorie and nutrient contents of their foods, emphasizing nutrients of current concern, such as vitamin D and potassium. The revision to the regulations came into effect on 26 July 2016 and initially stipulated that larger manufacturers must comply within two years while smaller manufacturers had an additional year. On September 29, 2017 the FDA released a proposed rule that extended the deadline to January 1, 2020 for large companies and January 1, 2021 for small companies.
Reference Daily Intake
The Food and Nutrition Board subsequently revised the RDAs every five to ten years. In 1973, the FDA introduced regulations to specify the format of nutrition labels when present, although the inclusion of such labels was largely voluntary, only being required if nutrition claims were made or if nutritional supplements were added to the food. The nutrition labels were to include percent U.S. RDA based on the 1968 RDAs in effect at the time. The RDAs continued to be updated (in 1974, 1980 and 1989) but the values specified for nutrition labelling remained unchanged.
Genetically modified food controversies
Prior to the new federal rules taking effect, while it does require pre-market approval, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not required GMO labeling as long as there are no differences in health, environmental safety, and consumer expectations based on the packaging.
The federal rules come after GMO labeling was debated in many state legislatures and defeated in popular referendums in Oregon (2002 and 2014), Colorado (2014), California Proposition 37 (2012), and Washington Initiative 522 (2012). Connecticut and Maine had passed laws in 2013 and 2014 respectively, which would have required GMO food labels if Northeast states with a population of at least 20 million had passed similar laws (and for Connecticut, representing at least four states).
MyPlate
MyPlate is the latest nutrition guide from the USDA. The USDA's first dietary guidelines were published in 1894 by Dr. Wilbur Olin Atwater as a farmers' bulletin. Since then, the USDA has provided a variety of nutrition guides for the public, including the Basic 7 (1943–1956), the Basic Four (1956–1992), the Food Guide Pyramid (1992–2005), and MyPyramid (2005–2013).
Food labelling in Canada
By law, nearly all products have a nutrition label in Canada. The nutrition label gives you information about the product including, its serving size, calories, and its percentage of the 13 core nutrients that Canada deems necessary. These nutrients include fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. All of these nutrients, except for vitamins and minerals, are recorded based on a reasonable daily intake percentage. Vitamins and minerals are based on a recommended daily intake (RDI). These differ in that one is based on what one is expected to eat in a day, while the other is based on what the government recommends one consume in a day. However, all nutrients are recorded onto the same label with the same guidelines that is prescribed by the Food and Drug Regulations. These guidelines determine that the nutrition label must be clearly and predominantly displayed on the package to the manufacturer as well as clearly visible to the consumer at the time of purchase.
According to the Canadian Government, the following foods are exempted from being required to have a food label:
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 () is a federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2010. The bill is part of the reauthorization of funding for child nutrition (see the original Child Nutrition Act). The bill funds child nutrition programs and free lunch programs in schools for the next 5 years. In addition, the bill sets new nutrition standards for schools, and allocates $4.5 billion for their implementation. The new nutrition standards have been a point initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama in her fight against childhood obesity as part of her Let's Move! initiative. In FY 2011, federal spending totaled $10.1 billion for the National School Lunch Program. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA, for the first time in 30 years, opportunity to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children. Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and Michelle Obama were a step in transforming the food pyramid recommendation, which has been around since the early 1990s, into what is now known as "MyPlate".
Child Nutrition Act
In the fall of 2009 the Institute of Medicine recommended updates and revisions to the school lunch and breakfast programs, at the request of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The committee reviewed the current regulations for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements. The planning model used to develop current nutritional standards and related meal requirements is based on legislation (USDA,1995) that provided specifications for use of 1995 Dietary Guidelines for American and the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances (NRC, 1989). To meet its task, the IOM committee also reviewed and assessed the food and nutritional needs of school-aged children in the United States using the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans set by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and USDA, as well as the IOM’s Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). The committee recommends numerous revisions and that emphasis be placed on revised Meal Requirements rather than on nutrients per se. The committee’s recommended new approach clearly focuses on providing meals that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The final report, "School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children" was released in November 2009. The committee recommended that the USDA adopt standards for menu planning, including:On January 13, 2011, the USDA published new proposed regulations in the Federal Register based on the IOM recommendations, as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
Food policy
Food labeling requirements are spelled out in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated FFDCA, FDCA, or FD&C). Nutrition labeling is required for most prepared foods, and is voluntary for raw produce and fish. The most recognizable label is the nutrition facts label found on all prepared foods. This lists the suggested serving size followed by the amount per serving of calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, protein, and a list of some micronutrients found in the food. Ingredients are also included on the label, listed from the highest quantity to the lowest quantity.
Tom Wappel
Wappel promoted several private member's bills calling for better nutritional labels on food products. In 1998, he introduced a bill that would have required nutritional labels on all foods sold in grocery stores. It was supported by the Alliance for Food Label Reform, and Wappel argued that it would help reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer among consumers. The bill was not passed.
Nutrition facts label
Nutrition facts labels are only one of many types of food label required by regulation or applied by manufacturers.
Nutrition labeling requirements of the Affordable Care Act
"Calorie Display""Statement of Caloric Intake"
Nutrition facts label
In 2011 the Chinese Ministry of Health released the National Food Safety Standard for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (GB 28050-2011). The core nutrients that must be on a label are: protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium. Energy is noted in kJ. And all values must be per 100g/100ml.,
Cold-pressed juice
Nutritional labeling requirements must be followed in some regions, including the US, where the nutrition facts label must state nutritional content, ingredients and the manufacturer.
Vitamin
Most countries place dietary supplements in a special category under the general umbrella of "foods", not drugs. As a result, the manufacturer, and not the government, has the responsibility of ensuring that its dietary supplement products are safe before they are marketed. Regulation of supplements varies widely by country. In the United States, a dietary supplement is defined under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. There is no FDA approval process for dietary supplements, and no requirement that manufacturers prove the safety or efficacy of supplements introduced before 1994. The Food and Drug Administration must rely on its Adverse Event Reporting System to monitor adverse events that occur with supplements. In 2007, the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 21, part III took effect, regulating Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) in the manufacturing, packaging, labeling, or holding operations for dietary supplements. Even though product registration is not required, these regulations mandate production and quality control standards (including testing for identity, purity and adulterations) for dietary supplements. In the European Union, the Food Supplements Directive requires that only those supplements that have been proven safe can be sold without a prescription.
For most vitamins, pharmacopoeial standards have been established. In the United States, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) sets standards for the most commonly used vitamins and preparations thereof. Likewise, monographs of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph.Eur.) regulate aspects of identity and purity for vitamins on the European market.
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994
A "label" is a display of written, printed, or graphic material on the supplement container. DSHEA and other federal regulations require the following information to appear on dietary supplement labels:Under the act, supplement manufacturers do not need to receive FDA approval before marketing dietary supplements that were marketed in the United States before 1994. Dietary ingredients not so grandfathered are defined as New Dietary Ingredients in 21 U.S.C. 350b(d), and notifications of providing reasonable evidence of their safety, or reasonable expectations of their safety, must be reviewed (not approved) by the FDA prior to their marketing. The herbal supplement industry has criticized these regulations as unfairly stringent; some feel they undermine the original intentions of the law to afford the herbal supplement industry freedom to market supplements as food.
Reference Daily Intake
The RDAs (and later the RDA values within the DRI) were regularly revised to reflect the latest scientific information, but although the nutrition labeling regulations were occasionally updated, the existing RDI values were not changed, so that until 2016 many of the DVs used on nutrition facts labels were still based on the outdated RDAs from 1968. In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration published changes to the regulations including updated RDIs and DVs based primarily on the RDAs in the current DRI.
Nutrition facts label
It was regulated by the Commission Directive 2008/100/EC of 28 October 2008 amending Council Directive 90/496/EEC on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs as regards recommended daily allowances, energy conversion factors and definitions. A new regulation is now in force (Regulation 1169/2011). Nutritional labelling becomes mandatory for most pre-packaged foods as from December 2016.
Nutrition facts label
The label begins with a standard serving measurement, calories are listed second, and then following is a breakdown of the constituent elements. Always listed are total fat, sodium, carbohydrates and protein; the other nutrients usually shown may be suppressed, if they are zero. Usually all 15 nutrients are shown: calories, calories from fat, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron.
Regulation of food and dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The was the first of a series of significant consumer protection laws enacted by the Federal Government in the twentieth century and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Its main purpose was to ban foreign and interstate traffic in adulterated or mislabeled food and drug products, and it directed the U.S. 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. "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair was an inspirational piece that kept the public's attention on the important issue of unsanitary meat processing plants that later formed the Pure Food and Drug Act.
Vitamin E
For U.S. food and dietary supplement labeling purposes the amount in a serving is expressed as a percent of Daily Value (%DV). For vitamin E labeling purposes 100% of the Daily Value was 30 IU, but as of May 27, 2016 it was revised to 15 mg to bring it into agreement with the RDA. A table of the old and new adult Daily Values is provided at Reference Daily Intake. The original deadline to be in compliance was July 28, 2018, but on September 29, 2017 the FDA released a proposed rule that extended the deadline to January 1, 2020 for large companies and January 1, 2021 for small companies. European Union regulations require that labels declare energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, and salt. Voluntary nutrients may be shown if present in significant amounts. Instead of Daily Values, amounts are shown as percent of Reference Intakes (RIs). For vitamin E, 100% RI was set at 12 mg in 2011.
Vitamin D
Because it found mounting evidence for a benefit to bone health, though it had not found good evidence of other benefits, the US Food and Drug Administration has required manufacturers to declare the amount of vitamin D on nutrition facts labels, as "nutrients of public health significance", since May 2016. By a proposed deadline extension, small manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales will have to comply by 1 Jan 2021, while larger ones have to comply by 1 Jan 2020.
Del Monte Foods
In 1972, Del Monte became the first major US food processor to voluntarily adopt nutritional labeling on all its food products, an innovation that made headlines throughout the country and applauded by government officials as a breakthrough in consumer education.
Trans fat
Since 2014, It is obligatory to mark food products with more than 2% (by weight) fat. The nutritional facts must contain the amount of trans fats.
Cat food
In the United States, cat foods labeled as "complete and balanced" must meet standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) either by meeting a nutrient profile or by passing a feeding trial. Cat Food Nutrient Profiles were established in 1992 and updated in 1995 by the AAFCO's Feline Nutrition Expert Subcommittee. The updated profiles replaced the previous recommendations set by the National Research Council (NRC). Certain manufacturers label their products with terms such as premium, ultra premium, natural and holistic. Such terms currently have no legal definitions. However, "While most of the food supplied comes from within the US, the FDA ensures that standards are met within our borders even when components come from countries with less stringent levels of safety or label integrity."
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
On September 21, 1959, P.L. 86-341 authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to operate a food-stamp system through January 31, 1962. The Eisenhower Administration never used the authority. However, in fulfillment of a campaign promise made in West Virginia, President John F. Kennedy's first Executive Order called for expanded food distribution and, on February 2, 1961, he announced that food stamp pilot programs would be initiated. The pilot programs would retain the requirement that the food stamps be purchased, but eliminated the concept of special stamps for surplus foods. A Department spokesman indicated the emphasis would be on increasing the consumption of perishables.
Mandatory labelling
Because of past scandals involving deceptive labelling, countries like the United States and Canada require most processed foods to have a Nutrition facts label on the label, and the table's formatting and content must conform to strict guidelines. The European Union equivalent is the slightly different Nutrition information table, which may also be supplemented with standardized icons indicating the presence of allergens.
EnergyGuide
Appliance energy labeling was mandated by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which directed the Federal Trade Commission to "develop and administer a mandatory energy labeling program covering major appliances, equipment, and lighting." The first appliance labeling rule was established in 1979 and all products were required to carry the label starting in 1980.
Nutrition labeling requirements of the Affordable Care Act
"Additional Written Nutritional Information"
Nutrition facts label
In the United States, the Nutritional Facts label lists the percentage supplied that is recommended to be met, or to be limited, in one day of human nutrients based on a daily diet of 2,000 calories.
Poppers
In the US, amyl nitrite was originally marketed as a prescription drug in 1937 and remained so until 1960, when the Food and Drug Administration removed the prescription requirement due to its food safety record. This requirement was reinstated in 1969, after observation of an increase in recreational use.
Tocopherol
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initiated a process of reviewing and approving food and dietary supplement health claims in 1993. A Qualified Health Claim issued in 2012 allows product label claims that vitamin E may reduce risk of renal, bladder and colorectal cancers, with a stipulation that the label must include a mandatory qualifier sentence: “FDA has concluded that there is very little scientific evidence for this claim.” The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reviews proposed health claims for the European Union countries. As of March 2018, EFSA has not evaluated any vitamin E and cancer prevention claims.
Regulation of food and dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated as FFDCA, FDCA, or FD&C), is a set of laws passed by Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics. A principal author of this law was Royal S. Copeland, a three-term U.S. Senator from New York. In 1968, the Electronic Product Radiation Control provisions were added to the FD&C. Also in that year the FDA formed the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) to incorporate into FD&C regulations the recommendations from a National Academy of Sciences investigation of effectiveness of previously marketed drugs. The act has been amended many times, most recently to add requirements about bioterrorism preparations.
New York State Restaurant Association v. New York City Board of Health
New York State Restaurant Association v. New York City Board of Health is a case decided by the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals. The case arose after New York City passed a law in January 2007 to become the first American city to require restaurant chains to state the number of calories in everything on their menus. The New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) sued, arguing infringement of commercial freedom of speech under the First Amendment. The NYSRA also argued that the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 and FDA regulations New York's calorie posting regulation. The Second Circuit rejected all of the Restaurant Association's claims and upheld the New York City law. Congressman Henry Waxman, who was the NLEA's chief sponsor, joined an amicus brief in support of New York City's position and was represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group.
Food safety
Recognition of food safety issues and attempts to address them began after Upton Sinclair published the novel "The Jungle" in 1906. It was a fictional account of the lives of immigrants in the industrial cities in the US around this time. Sinclair spent nine months undercover as an employee in a Chicago meat plant doing research. The book inadvertently raised public concern about food safety and sanatization of the Chicago meat packing industry. Upon reading "The Jungle", President Theodore Roosevelt called on Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), which passed in 1906 and 1907 respectively. These laws were the first to address food safety in the US Misbranding and adulteration were defined as they concerned food additives and truth in labeling. Food preservatives such as formaldehyde and borax used to disguise unsanitary production processes were also addressed.
Food and Drug Administration
Up until the 20th century, there were few federal laws regulating the contents and sale of domestically produced food and pharmaceuticals, with one exception being the short-lived Vaccine Act of 1813. The history of the FDA can be traced to the latter part of the 19th century and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Division of Chemistry, later its Bureau of Chemistry. Under Harvey Washington Wiley, appointed chief chemist in 1883, the Division began conducting research into the adulteration and misbranding of food and drugs on the American market. Wiley's advocacy came at a time when the public had become aroused to hazards in the marketplace by muckraking journalists like Upton Sinclair, and became part of a general trend for increased federal regulations in matters pertinent to public safety during the Progressive Era. The 1902 Biologics Control Act was put in place after a diphtheria antitoxin—derived from tetanus-contaminated serum—was used to produce a vaccine that caused the deaths of thirteen children in St. Louis, Missouri. The serum was originally collected from a horse named Jim, who had contracted tetanus.
School meal programs in the United States
In 2010, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act made the most sweeping changes in the history of the NSLP, putting vending-machine snacks and "à la carte" menu items under federal regulation for the first time. Championed by First Lady Michelle Obama and directed by the USDA, the law established guidelines requiring more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in school meals. The guidelines, which took effect in the 2012–13 school year, also limited sodium, fat, and caloric intake based on students' ages.
Nutrition facts label
In Hong Kong nutrition facts labels are regulated by the subsidiary legislation Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) (Amendment: Requirements for Nutrition Labelling and Nutrition Claim) Regulation 2008.
List of nutrition guides
Most countries also have nutrition facts labels which are not listed here; many of those reference specific target amounts for various nutrients.
Mandatory country-of-origin labeling of food sold in the United States
Now repealed, Country of origin labeling (COOL) (or mCOOL ["m" for mandatory]) was a requirement signed into American law under Title X of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (also known as the 2002 Farm Bill), codified at as Notice of country of origin. This law had required retailers to provide country-of-origin labeling for fresh beef, pork, and lamb. The program exempted processed meats. The United States Congress passed an expansion of the COOL requirements on September 29, 2008, to include more food items such as fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables. Regulations were implemented on August 1, 2008 (), August 31, 2008 (), and May 24, 2013 ().
Pure Food and Drug Act
The was the first of a series of significant consumer protection laws which was enacted by Congress in the 20th century and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Its main purpose was to ban foreign and interstate traffic in adulterated or mislabeled food and drug products, and it directed the U.S. 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. "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair was an inspirational piece that kept the public's attention on the important issue of unsanitary meat processing plants that later led to food inspection legislation. Sinclair quipped, "I aimed at the public's heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach," as readers demanded and got the pure food law.
Nutrition facts label
The rules for the new design were finalized on May 20, 2016. Manufacturers were initially given until July 26, 2018 to comply (or July 26, 2019 if they have less than $10 million in annual food sales). A proposed rule by the FDA would extend the compliance deadline to January 1, 2020 (or January 1, 2021 for qualified small business). For food and dietary supplement labeling purposes the amounts of vitamins and nutritionally essential minerals in a serving are expressed as a percent of Daily Value (%DV). Many of the definitions of 100% Daily Value were changed as part of the revision. A table of the old and new adult Daily Values is provided at Reference Daily Intake.
Guidances for statistics in regulatory affairs
Regulation in the USA started in 1906 with the Food and Drugs Act and further USA regulation came in 1938 with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act following the deaths due to Elixir sulfanilamide in 1937. Further tragedies resulted from the use of Thalidomide that was marketed in 1957, Germany, without adequate testing. The Thalidomide catastrophe tightened the regulatory pressure in the US with the Kefauver Harris Amendment (1962) to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the European regulation appeared with UK's "Medicines Act 1968". Further developments lead to a large volume and variety of regulatory “guidances” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA and “guidelines” by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Europe. Also, other regions of the world issued regulatory guidance, for example, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) in Japan. In 1989 a plan for harmonization of guidance across Europe, Japan and the USA was started and the first meeting of International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) was held in 1990, Brussels.
Reference Daily Intake
The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) were a set of nutrition recommendations that evolved into both the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) system of nutrition recommendations (which still defines RDA values) and the RDIs used for food labelling. The first regulations governing U.S. nutrition labels specified a "% U.S. RDA" declaration based on the current RDA values, which had been published in 1968. Later, the % U.S. RDA was renamed the %DV and the RDA values that the %DVs were based on became the RDIs.
Standards of identity for food
A 2014 lawsuit in the United States illustrated the necessity of such regulations. When Hampton Creek implied in its advertising that mayonnaise being marketed by Unilever was not "real" mayonnaise, the latter sued Hampton for defamation and cited the definitions promulgated by the Food and Drug Administration.
Folate
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set the folic acid fortification regulation in 1996, the projected increase in folic acid intake was 100 µg/d. Mandatory fortification began 1 January 1998. The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics conducts biannual National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. Some results are reported as What We Eat In America. The 2013–2014 survey reported that for adults ages 20 years and older, men consumed on average of 249 μg/d folate from food plus 207/d μg of folic acid from consumption of fortified foods, for a combined total of 601 μg/d of dietary folate equivalents (DFEs; because each microgram of folic acid counts as 1.7 μg of food folate). For women, the values are 199, 153 and 459 μg/d, respectively. This means that fortification led to a bigger increase in folic acid intake than first projected, and that more than half the adults are consuming more than the RDA of 400 μg (as DFEs), but even so, fewer than half of pregnant women are exceeding the pregnancy RDA of 600 μg/d.
History of organic farming
In the 1980s, around the world, farming and consumer groups began seriously pressuring for government regulation of organic production. This led to legislation and certification standards being enacted through the 1990s and to date. In the United States, the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 tasked the USDA with developing national standards for organic products, and the final rule establishing the National Organic Program was first published in the Federal Register in 2000
National Farmers Union (United States)
In 1982, NFU was influential in getting a portion of the military budget shifted to humanitarian food aid using commodity surpluses from the US. In 1990, the organization pushed for increased regulation of and a national standard for organically-produced food. In 2002, NFU was one of the leaders of a coalition of 165 farm and consumer groups that helped establish mandatory country-of-origin labeling. It took even more additional effort in order for the country-of-origin labeling to be officially implemented, and NFU led the charge. The labeling finally went into effect September 30, 2008, but is still being fought by multinational meat companies.
Sugar marketing
In 2016, the FDA enacted new requirements for US nutrition labels, which include calorie count in larger type and a separate line for added sugars. By July 2018 most manufacturers will need to use the new label.
Nutrition labeling requirements of the Affordable Care Act
Establishments must provide a calorie display, statement regarding calorie intake, and additional written nutrition information available upon request.
History of the Food and Drug Administration
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the new Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) into law on June 24, 1938. The new law significantly increased federal regulatory authority over drugs by mandating a pre-market review of the safety of all new drugs, as well as banning false therapeutic claims in drug labeling without requiring that the FDA prove fraudulent intent. The law also authorized factory inspections and expanded enforcement powers, set new regulatory standards for foods, and brought cosmetics and therapeutic devices under federal regulatory authority. This law, though extensively amended in subsequent years, remains the central foundation of FDA regulatory authority to the present day.
Raw meat
The first instance of federal regulation of the meat industry occurred in 1890, when European markets began questioning the quality of American beef. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was given the power to make sure European standards were met, and in 1891 could inspect slaughtered livestock to be sold in the United States. The momentum for the creation of meat regulation laws in the 20th century was spurred by the publication of "The Jungle", by Upton Sinclair. Published in 1906, this exposé described the horrible and unsanitary conditions of the Chicago slaughterhouses and caused a public outcry for change. The Federal government authorized the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) in 1906 as a response. It “established sanitary standards for slaughter” and “mandated antemortem inspection of animals…and postmortem inspection of every carcass.” Another stipulation was that government inspectors must be in every meat production facility. This law did not originally cover poultry, just beef and meat from other mammals, because poultry was not being mass-produced in the early 20th century. 
The federal meat inspection programs continued to be revised throughout the 20th century, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, in light of studies that showed more dangers not yet addressed. The current rule used by the FSIS, or Food Safety and Inspection Services, was published in 1996 and known as HACCP. This stands for the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Systems. It was originally developed by the Pillsbury Company to make sure that food used by the U.S. space program was safe, and later adopted and modified by the Federal government. The HACCP’s goal is to: 
reduce the risk of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of meat and poultry products to the maximum extent possible by ensuring that appropriate and feasible measures are taken at each step in the food-production process where hazards can enter and where procedures and technologies exist or can be developed to prevent the hazard or reduce the likelihood it will occur.
According to an article on the HACCP system published in "Risk Analysis", the seven principles of implementing a HACCP system are:These measures try to ensure that the system is effective, reducing the risk of harmful pathogens sickening the public.
Nutrition Education
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 passed by the Obama administration in 2010 included provisions that led to reforms that established  minimum requirements that all food and beverages sold on schools’ campuses must meet. The new standards include limits on the amount of sugar, sodium, and calories from saturated fat food may contain per item.
Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act
The U.S. Surgeon General issued a detailed report saying that cigarette smoking was a health hazard on January 11, 1964. In June 1964, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced several new requirements of the tobacco industry. Beginning on January 1, 1965, the tobacco industry would have to put health warning labels on their cigarette packages and that starting July 1, 1965, similar health warnings would be required in their advertisements. The tobacco industry fought back with an aggressive lobbying effort on Capitol Hill and a public relations campaign that included brochures such as "Tobacco—a vital U.S. Industry," stressing the economic importance of the industry and its contributions to federal revenues.
Reference Daily Intake
The RDI is used to determine the Daily Value (DV) of foods, which is printed on nutrition facts labels (as % DV) in the United States and Canada, and is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada. The labels "high", "rich in", or "excellent source of" may be used for a food if it contains 20% or more of the RDI. The labels "good source", "contains", or "provides" may be used on a food if it contains between 10% and 20% of the RDI.
United States Food Administration
The U. S. Food Administration was the agency responsible for the administration of the U.S. army overseas and allies' food reserves during the United States participation in World War I. One of its important tasks was the stabilization of the price of wheat on the U.S. market. It was established by of August 10, 1917, pursuant to the Food and Fuel Control Act.