US Food and Drug Administration in history

The origins of the Food and Drug Administration can be traced back to 1862, when President Lincoln appointed chemist Charles M. Wetherill to head the Chemical Division in the new US Department of Agriculture.

In 1883, Harvey W. Wiley became the chief of the division as it grew into the Bureau of Chemistry in 1901. He focused his attention and efforts on chemically altered foods and food additives and their impact on health, which he believed was a greater public health threat than fraudulent or misbranded drugs.

The bureau modern regulatory functions began with the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The act was a response to revelations of false claims for adulterated and dangerous patent medicines.

In 1927 Congress authorized the formation of the Food, Drug and Insecticide Administration from the regulatory wing of the Bureau of Chemistry; the name of the agency was shortened to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1930.

Pesticide residues began to be problem in the 1920s. In 1938, the stronger Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act – still the nation’s governing statue – replaced the 1906.

In 1940 FDA moved from Department of Agriculture to the Federal Security Agency then to the Departments of Health, and Welfare and Health and Human Services.
US Food and Drug Administration in history