This chapter explores the origins and effects of the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 in the U.S. It explains that the Act provided regulators unprecedented authority over interstate trade in food and drug products. This chapter investigates the timing and nature of support for the Act and evaluates the early enforcement of this law and its effects on consumer welfare. Both the narrative and statistical evidence suggest that a nuanced combination of the three main views of Progressive Era reform explains the adoption of the law.

This chapter explores the origins and effects of the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 in the U.S. It explains that the Act provided regulators unprecedented authority over interstate trade in food and drug products. This chapter investigates the timing and nature of support for the Act and evaluates the early enforcement of this law and its effects on consumer welfare. Both the narrative and statistical evidence suggest that a nuanced combination of the three main views of Progressive Era reform explains the adoption of the law.