Food Law Handbook (PDF)

Of all industries in the United States, the food industry must in fact be the most regulated by law. If it is not, its competition for this distinction goes unnoticed. All phases of the food industry are subjected to some control by law, beginning with the land food is grown on and the oceans from which it is harvested. Seed and plant stock are sometimes subjected to control such as to the nutritional value of the foods they produce. Acreages of agricultural crops, the quantities of foods to be produced, are regulated. As foods are produced, whether from plants or animals, the substances applied to increase yields or provide protection from pests are controlled to insure safe use. As foods enter and pass through the huge marketing system they are scrutinized from beginning to end by regulatory agents operating under authority of food laws. Those foods which are transformed through various technologies into today's thousands of consumer products are watched carefully to insure the appropriateness and safety of added ingredients, not all of which are natural, and the adequacy of processing, packaging and storage. Finally, the representation of foods to consumers through labeling and advertising is controlled to make sure it is accurate and sufficiently informative.