This edition first published 2022
© 2022 Neal D. Fortin
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Fortin, Neal D., author.
Title: Food regulation : law, science, policy, and practice / Neal D. Fortin, Michigan State University, Okemos, Michigan, USA.
Description: Third edition. | Hoboken : Wiley, 2022. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021031928 (print) | LCCN 2021031929 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119764274 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119764281 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119764298 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Food law and legislation–United States. | Food industry and trade–Safety regulations–United States. | Food adulteration and inspection–United States.
Classification: LCC KF3875 .F67 2021 (print) | LCC KF3875 (ebook) | DDC 344.7304/232–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021031928 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021031929
Dedicated to
Katherine Fortin and Helen Fortin
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neal Fortin is the Director of the Institute for Food Laws & Regulations (www.IFLR.msu.edu) at Michigan State University and Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Michigan State University College of Law. Mr. Fortin teaches courses in United States Food Law, International Food Law, Codex Alimentarius, and Regulatory Leadership in Food Law.
Neal Fortin was the 2009 recipient of a Michigan State University Distinguished Faculty Award for his teaching in food safety. He is past President of the North Central Association of Food & Drug Officials. He served as a Commissioner for the Michigan Local Public Health Accreditation Program, the Advisory Council of the Michigan Community Health Leadership Institute, and the NSF Council of Public Health Consultants. He served on the Dietary Supplement Committee of the Food and Drug Law Institute. He has been a curriculum advisor to the International Food Protection Training Institute and the University of Catalonia. He is an emeritus member of the Association of Food and Drug Officials, the Food and Drug Law Institute, a professional member of the Institute of Food Technologists, and the State Bar of Michigan. As an attorney, Mr. Fortin concentrated in food law, food safety, food labeling, ingredient evaluation, and advertising. He was the primary drafter of the Michigan Food Law of 2000.
FOREWORD
WHAT IS FOOD LAW?
“What is food law?” may be a surprising question in a book titled Food Regulation. When I entered this field, the answer was a simple one. “Food law” meant the regulation of food. Food law had two main audiences: lawyers and the regulated food industries. At the universities, these audiences were reflected in courses at law schools and in food science departments. Food law was not a stand‐alone course at law schools but rather was a subset of food and drug law courses. There it dealt largely with the regulation of food by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In food science departments, the food law courses covered the law that the regulated food businesses needed to know, mostly the regulation by FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and related state agencies.
This traditional approach to food law remains important today, and this book largely follows that traditional meaning of food law as the law that directly regulates food or food regulatory law. Foremost, food regulatory law remains the main practice area for attorneys involved in food law and the main interest of professionals working in the food industry.
In recent years, the question “What is food law?” has become more complex in part due to the growing food movements. Writers like Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Greg Critser, and Barbara Kingsolver have brought new interest and attention to food and food policy. At the same time, a broader perception of the interconnectedness of food, agriculture, and law has emerged. As Wendell Berry observed, “Eating is an agricultural act.” Agricultural law affects our food, and thus in this sense, large swatches of agricultural law are sometimes called, “food law.” In addition, “food law” is sometimes broadened in meaning to include all law related in some way to food, such as environmental rules for farms and agricultural commodity price supports.
Unfortunately, the omnibus usage is confusing not only because it usurps the longstanding, common meaning of “food law” but also because it is misleading semantically, “Food law” is law that applies directly to food. This omnibus usage also can result in shallow understanding. Judge Frank Easterbrook talked of, The Law of the Horse, where, “Lots of cases