1933 - Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection

Columbia University economics professor Rexford Guy Tugwell wins appointment as assistant secretary of agriculture and head of the Food and Drug Administration. Now 42 and a self-proclaimed socialist, Tugwell vows to give "human rights" priority over "property and financial rights"; he begins campaigning for a new pure food and drug law (see 1938).

"Reg. Penna. Dept. Agr." appears on packages of crackers, pasta, snack foods, and similar foods following adoption of a Pennsylvania state law ordering that bakeries and other premises producing such foods be licensed and inspected periodically for minimum cleanliness and worker health. Any company producing such foods must have its production facilities inspected, wherever they may be, if the foods are to be sold in Pennsylvania.