1938 - Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection

The United States has her last reported case of "the milksick" as dairies virtually wipe out the often fatal disease by pooling their milk from a variety of herds. Also called the slows or the trembles, the disease is transmitted in the milk of cows that have eaten white snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum).

The new U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act signed into law June 27 updates the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 (see 1912; 1913; Tugwell, Schlink, 1933). It establishes standards of identity for most food products, requiring that basic ingredients of about 400 such products be listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, but only "optional" ingredients such as salt, sugar, and spices be listed on labels. The new law is stricter than the old one but critics say it is still not sufficiently protective of consumers' health (see Delaney, 1950).

The Federal Trade Commission uses its new powers under the Wheeler-Lea Act to enjoin Standard Brands from making claims that Fleischmann's Yeast is "rich in hormone-like substances" and will help prevent colds, cure constipation, indigestion, and related skin problems. Quaker Oats is enjoined from claiming that its cereal contains the "magical yeast vitamin," alleged to curb nervousness and prevent constipation while stimulating children's appetites and promoted with the claim that one penny's worth contains as much of this B vitamin as three cakes of yeast.