Symposium on the History of Fifty Years of Food Regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: A Historical Introduction Symposium on the History of Fifty Years of Food Regulation - Introduction 45 Food, Drug, Cosmetic Law Journal 1990

45 Food Drug Cosm. L.J. 17 (1990)
Symposium on the History of Fifty Years of Food Regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: A Historical Introduction

handle is hein.journals/foodlj45 and id is 41 raw text is: Symposium on the History of Fifty Years of Food Regulation
Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: A
Historical Introduction
PETER BARTON HUTT, ESQ.*
This Symposium Is
Dedicated
To The Memory Of
ROGER DAVID MIDDLEKAUFF
May 6, 1935 - October 17, 1989
Who Conceived, Planned, And Organized It
Food has been the subject of government regulation since ancient
times.' Modern food regulation may be traced to the publication in Eng-
land of a treatise on food adulteration by Frederick Accum in 1820.2 That
book lead to important investigations of food adulteration by Dr. Arthur
H. Hassall8 in England during the mid-1800s and to the enactment of
three laws protecting the English food and drug supply during 1860-
1875.'
In his 1837 annual report, Patent Commissioner Henry L. Ellsworth
recommended a national agency for the encouragement of agriculture.'
Congress responded in 1839 by an appropriation of $1000 to the Commis-
sioner of Patents for the collection of agricultural statistics, and for other
agricultural purposes.' From then on, the Patent Office collected and
reported agricultural statistics, sponsored or conducted chemical investiga-
tions on agricultural matters, monitored agricultural developments, and
reported on all of these in its annual reports. Beginning in 1849, a sepa-
rate report was made by the Patent Commissioner to Congress on agricul-
tural matters.' An Agricultural Division was established in the Patent Of-
fice and a chemical laboratory was created in that Division.
* Mr. Hutt is a partner in the law firm of Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C. He served as
Chief Counsel for the Food and Drug Administration during 1971-1975.
1. Hutt & Hutt II, A History of Government Regulation of Adulteration and Misbranding of
Food, 39 FOOD DRUG CosM. L.J. 2 (1984).
2. F. ACCUM, A TREATISE ON ADULTERATIONS OF FOOD AND CULINARY POISONS (1820).
3. A.H. HASSALL, ADULTERATIONS DETECTED; OR, PLAIN INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE Discov-
ERY OF FRAUDS IN FOOD AND MEDICINE (1857).
4. 23 & 24 Vict., ch. 84 (1860); 35 & 36 Vict., ch. 74 (1872); 38 & 39 Viet., ch. 63 (1875).
5. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS FOR THE YEAR 1837, H.R. Doc. No. 112,
25th Cong., 2d Sess. 4-6 (1838).
6. 5 Stat. 353, 354 (1839).
7. E.g., REPORT FROM THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS SHOWING THE OPERATIONS OF THE
PATENT OFFICE DURING THE YEAR 1843, H.R. Doc. No. 109; 27th Cong., 3d Sess. (1844).
8. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS FOR THE YEAR 1849: PART II. AGRICUL-

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