Protecting families from contaminated food and water
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Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Posted in Food Policy,Our Blog on May 23, 2025
Food safety regulations help keep our food supply safe. Ensuring that food manufacturers adhere to safety standards to ensure our food is free of contaminants, adulterants, and harmful substances.
While we have certainly come a long way, we have yet more to do. Seeing as, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, around 48 million people are sickened by foodborne illness in the United States each year. Reports indicate that around 128,000 people are hospitalized for their illness and 3,000 die from it.
But how did it start?
According to historical documents, the first documented case of foodborne illness dates back to Alexander the Great.
323 B.C.
Historians believe that the ancient ruler died from typhoid fever. An illness caused by Salmonella typhi.
Of course there is not specific food source indicated. But this illness is widely known to be associated with contaminated water or food.
I’ll give the historians this win.
But we are here to talk about food safety regulations here. Though, likely, if those in the Alexander’s circle understood what transpired, they may have been more careful with the next ruler.
Maybe.
King John of England enacted the first English food law in 1202. The Assize of Bread. This law was prompted by discovering the adulteration of bread with ingredients like ground peas and beans. This law not only regulated the quality of bread manufactured and sold in 13th-century England, but also regulated the weight and price of certain goods. Namely bread and beer.
You know. The essentials.
In 1646, Massachusetts colonists enacted their own version of the food safety regulation. But it wasn’t until 1785 that the state passed the Act known as “Act Against Selling Unwholesome Provisions.”
It didn’t have the same flair as the English equivalent, but it served the same purpose. According to the act, someone who knowingly sold “diseased, corrupted, contagious or unwholesome provisions” could be punished by law.
This act applied to all food provisions and is considered the first American food safety law.
The first official food-based regulatory agency was formed in the 1862. While not explicitly attributed, the death of President Zachary Taylor shortly after consuming raw fruits and iced milk at a 4th of July event in 1850 may have been a contributing factor.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln formed the USDA. In 1897, a group known as the National Association of State Dairy and Food Departments inspired the formation of an Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS).
They loved their acronyms. Even way back then!
Between 1906 and 2020, a slew of other food safety regulations acts were put into law.
Thes acts prevented alteration and misbranding of a number of products. Food, drugs, medicines, and liquors. The Federal Meat Inspection Act involved requiring sanitary conditions for the slaughter and processing of meat and meat products.
This Act would later become the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938. A regulatory document we are most familiar with today. This Act allowed for factory inspections and court injunctions in addition to the existing penalties of seizures and prosecutions.
In 1957, Congress passed the Poultry Products Inspection Act that required inspection of poultry products (both processed and ready-to-cook items) sold in interstate commerce.
A Food Additive Amendment was added to the existing Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Acct of 1938 two decades after its official naming. This was in response to the growing concern about unknown chemicals in food.
Formed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, the Consumer Bill of Rights stated that consumers have a right to safety, to be informed, to choose, and to be heard.
With more and more consumer-packaged goods making their way into American households, this Act was necessary. It required the identification of the commodity, the name and location of the manufacturer, and the net quantity. It was intended to prevent deceptive packaging and labeling of many household products. Food included.
The foodborne illness database began.
More than 75 million cans of mushrooms were recalled following a nationwide illness outbreak. This was the first major food recall in the country.
This agency was created to grade and inspect meat and poultry. Later the agency became what we know of as FSIS.
In 1982, an E. coli outbreak sickening 47 people in Oregon and Michigan didn’t make much news. Or at least as much news as 1982 technology allowed for. Most people only know about the McDonald’s burger E. coli outbreak now because of articles and blog posts like this.
However, many food science historians believe that had this become more of a fuss, the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak may have been prevented.
In 1993, Jack in the Box burgers were the source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened 732 people, resulting in 178 hospitalizations. Four children died.
It was the most public foodborne outbreak of the time.
Shortly after, the USDA officially declared raw ground beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 as adulterated and mandated food safe handling labels on all packages of raw meat and poultry as of 1994.
Response to the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak began the start of a major overhaul of food safety regulations and additional regulatory reach.
This rule focused on prevention rather than detection. The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points system required meat and poultry manufacturers to anticipate problems before they happened and plan for mitigating steps. This took place between 1997 and 2000.
The Act was amended to expand the FDA’s reach to regulate health and nutrient content claims, among other food contact rules.
This Act was aimed at preventative measures rather than reactionary ones. Specific and mandatory controls and safety standards were put into law. As were the necessary tools for inspection, compliance, and incident response. It is the biggest tool in the regulatory toolbox to date.
Technology for traceability and evolving food business models are included in this document.
In February 2025, President Donald Trump created the Make America Healthy Again Commission. An organization that has already begun the work of banning certain dyes and reduce chemical exposures in our food. Especially in products for children.
While we have come quite a long way to go to making our food supply safer. We still have more work to do. With outbreaks still filling the FDA Current Outbreak Table and new recalls posted every day, our food supply could be safer. It is a work in progress.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “The Evolution of Food Safety Regulations,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)