The Government of the United States first introduced
the concept of food safety to North American consumers.
The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of
1908 prohibited additions of any toxic or deleterious
substance to food, and the Food Additive amendment
of 1938 required that all additives be proven ‘‘safe’’
before addition to food (Francis, 1979). In 1976, The
Food Safety Council was born in the US. Its task was to
develop new criteria for evaluating the safety of the
food supply, whether it was a food ingredient, a food
additive, or a basic foodstuff. The Council also developed
documents and regulations in response to scientific
research related to food safety (Hopper, 1977). The rigorous
enforcement of these regulations by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety
Council, and the constant reassurance of the safety of
the food supply, has reinforced the concept of absolute