Milford chronicle., 1933-06-09
WALLACE SUBMITS
REVISION OF FOOD
AND DRUG ACT

! Declaring that nearly 27 years
experience in the enforcement of the
national pure food and drug law has
disclosed many serious deficiencies
in its provisions, the Secretary OF
Agriculture, Henry A. Wallace, by
direction of President Roosevelt,
spbmitted to Senator Ellison d.
Smith and to Representative Marvin
Jones, chairmen respectively of the
Senate Committee on Agriculture
and Forestry and the House Sommit-
tee ON Agriculture, bill designed to
supplant the present Federal food
and drug act.
The new bill was prepared under
the direction of Assistant Secretary
h. G. Tugwell, Walter G. Campbell,
Chief of the Federal Food and Drug
Administration, and the Solicitors
office of the Department of Rgricul-
ture. 1t has been approved by the
Department of Justice.
Among the provisions of the new
draft are clauses giving the govern
ment authority to prevent false adj
vertising of foods, drugs, and cos
metics and to establish tolerance for
added poisons in foods. Other pro-
visions include a section which
brings cosmetics within the jurisdic-
tion of officials enforcing the food >
and drugs act and which authorizes
the Secretary of Agriculture to pro-
mulgate definitions and standards
for foods which will have the force
and effect of law. Power to require
manufacturers to procure in certain
cases Federal permits is also grant
ed the government, under the new
draft, as is the authority to control
drug products ON the basis of thera-
peutic claims which are contrary to
the general agreement of medical
opinion. Another important section
of the bill is a requirement for more
informative labelling of foods and
drugs. ~
Designed to protect the public
against harmful or deceptively la
beled foods and drugs, the limita-
tions of the present food and drugs
act are such as to make impossible
the achievement of this purpose,
says Secretary Wallace. ~
Seven of the outstanding and most
significant provisions of the pro-
pObCu new AOOu anu VI dE ia " o. az
briefly outlined in the Secretary's.
letter to the committee chairmen.
% The prevention of false adj
vertising. The need for the control.
of serious abuses in this field is :
generally recognized. -
(2) The inclusion of cosmetics.
Serious injuries have occurred
through the sale and use of cosmetic
products of a character harmful to
the user. The practice of deceptiye
labelling and advertising of such
products should be regulated.
go The establishment of toler-
ances for added poisons in foods. A
complete elimination of all poison
GUS substances from foods may be
impossible. Where the presence of
poisons is unavoidable, their amounts
should be kept SO low that by no
possibility will the food be harmful
to health The present law contains
no provision authorizing the. estab-
lishment of tOlerances for poisons,
but imposes upon the government
the obligation of showing affirma-
lively in every case that food con-
tanning poisonous substances may
be harmful to health independent of
similar adulterations prevailing ex-
tensively in other foods.
(4) Authority for the Secretary,
after notice and hearing, to promul-
gate definitions and standards for
foods which will have the force and
effect of law Under the present
law such authority extends to the
field of canned foods only. Legal
food standards like those now ex-
listing for official drug products are
essential for efficient enforcement
operations.
(5) Power to require manufacture
ers to procure in certain cases Fed
eral permits. This method of regu-.
lation will be invoked in those in
stances only where a menace to
health is involved and where ade-
quate protection to the public can
not be effected through the other
provisions of the bill.
(6) The control of drug products
on the basis of therapeutic claims
which are contrary to the general
of medical opinion. This
removes the burden imposed by the
present law of proving not only that
such statements are false but that
they were made with fraudulent in
tent on the part of the manufactur-
er. This has seriously handicapped
the Department in the extension of
adequate protection to the public in
the purchase of drugs labeled as
treatments for various diseases.
ca Requirement of informative
labels. With one or two minor ex-
ceptions the present food and drugs
act contains no positive labelling re-
quirement 1t merely prohibits false
or misleading statements and these
are to some extent
minimized by excepting provisos. A
disclosure on the label of sufficient
facts to enable intelligent and dis
buying will operate un-
to the advantage of the
cons umer.
nV7TTSC HnnCC nnAnC.