Legs & Regs

Last year, America celebrated the centennial of both the Pure Food and Drugs Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. He saw these laws as a means to save capitalism from its own excess by civilizing it.

The Industrial Revolution had brought tremendous innovation and progress, but the new powers also created new problems. A growing understanding of chemistry, for example, spawned an entire industry selling food preservatives. Many of these, such as formaldehyde, were toxic; but companies were not required to test food additives for their safety, nor even label their presence.

Capitalism is an awesome engine of human innovation. That engine, however, works both ways. It can propel improvements, or it can drive a race to cheaper goods with disguised inferiority.

History teaches us thatjust as some will be honest no matter what the law sayssome will try to cheat. In ancient Greece and Rome, evidence exists of widespread adulteration, such as bread whitened with chalk and pepper diluted with juniper berries. Of course, chemical science offers the ability to craft adulterated products far beyond the ancients imagination.

The progression of our food laws often is illustrated as a series of victories by consumer groups. Too often missed is the important role that food-industry leaders played in improving our laws. Support of some food manufacturers was instrumental in gaining passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938.

These leaders knew that stringent regulatory standards provided the level playing field free markets required to work. Prior to the passage of the 1938 Act, honest manufacturers struggled to compete against cheaperbut impure, mislabeled and inferiorfoods.

Stringent product quality and safety standards also contributed to creating and improving the competitive advantage of an industry and a nation. For instance, prior to the 1906 Act, U.S. food exports had plummeted, due to rampant problems with adulteration and a poor reputation for quality.

With growing globalization, the competitive advantage of high standards is truer than ever. Buyers the world over are growing in sophistication, and they appreciate safer, higher-quality food.

In recent years, much energy has been spent simply eliminating or watering down food laws and regulations. More attention needs to be paid to the proper way to strengthen our food laws and improve our regulatory approach.

Of course, poor laws and poor administration wastes both government and private resources. That is why the involvement of food industry leaders is vital, for who else holds the knowledge to point the way to effective and efficient laws?

Rather than focusing on the short-term costs of complying with tough standards, we must attend to the longer-term benefits. High food-safety standards, applied consistently, are not only a benefit to consumer health, they are a long-term boon to business health, as well. 

Neal D. Fortin is director and professor of the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations at Michigan State University, East Lansing. Visit http://vu.msu.edu/preview/anr-iflor www.foodlaw.orgfor more information.