ry agency, the FDA, was established to administer the act (Murphy, and Enis, 1989).
The Food and Drugs Act of 1906 was replaced by the Pure Food, Drugs, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. This act has been sub sequently amended by the Food Additives Amendment in 1958, and the Kefauver Harris Amendment in 1962. The latter amend ment dealt with the pretesting of drugs for safety and effec tiveness, and with the labeling of drugs by generic names.
The FDA exercises regulatory responsibilities with respect to foods, drugs, and cosmetics (Cummings, and Wise, 1989). The agency is best known to the general public with respect to its drug pretesting program; however, its responsibilities encom pass even the preparation and serving of food in public estab lishments (Food and Drug Administration, 1986). 3
Many of the microbial organisms which are capable of pro ducing food poisoning are not normally pathogenic. They may, however, become pathogenic to humans and, at times, cause fatalities, when humans inadvertently consume them with food. The foods served in public environments are frequently contami nated with microbial organisms, which may be acquired during harvesting or processing, or which may be acquired during hand ling and preparation by dispensing organizations.
Most public health agencies, including the FDA, attempt to maintain low levels of contamination, as opposed to the com plete eradication of the microbial organisms from the foods served in public environments. In general, this approach is based on the knowledge that humans
...