Before 1906, there was no federal law ensuring that food and medicine sold across the United States were safe or honestly labeled. The Pure Food and Drug Act changed that, and everything about modern food labeling descends from it.
The problem it addressed
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, food adulteration was rampant and legal. Manufacturers stretched products with cheap fillers, disguised spoilage with chemical preservatives, and colored food with toxic dyes. 'Patent medicines' made wild claims and often contained alcohol, opium, or cocaine with no disclosure. Consumers had no way to know what they were buying.
What drove it through
Two forces converged. Dr. Harvey Wiley's scientific campaign against food adulteration built the case, and public revulsion at Upton Sinclair's The Jungle — which exposed filthy conditions in meatpacking — created unstoppable political pressure in 1906.
What the law did
Signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 30, 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act:
- Prohibited the interstate sale of adulterated food and drugs (containing filthy, harmful, or substituted ingredients).
- Prohibited misbranded products (falsely labeled or with hidden dangerous ingredients).
- Required that certain dangerous ingredients be listed on labels.
- Gave the federal government power to inspect and prosecute violations.
The same day, Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act, giving the USDA authority over meatpacking — the split in responsibility that still shapes who regulates what today.
Its legacy
The 1906 act was limited — it couldn't require pre-market safety testing and had enforcement gaps — but it established the principle that the federal government protects consumers from unsafe and dishonestly labeled food. Every later law, from the 1990 labeling act to the added sugars line, builds on that foundation.