9781422269947

See how the 1952 TV dinner was created from a surplus of Thanksgiving turkeys.

In 1969, President Nixon convened the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health. According to Suzanne Junod, “Out of this conference came a recommendation that the FDA spend less time on the composition of foods and more on enhancing their nutritional value, letting people know about their nutritional value, and harnessing the power of technology to improve the nutritional value of foods.” In short, the FDA wanted to create a system that gave people enough information to make wise decisions when buying their groceries. 1973: False Health Claims Get Out of Hand By the late 1960s, many companies had begun claiming in ads or on labels that their foods were healthy or prevented diseases. Most of these claims, however, were deceptive or not supported by scientific research. In 1972, the FDA responded by proposing regulations for

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What’s in a Label?