FDA's Ban of DES in Meat Production

Protection of the public from health hazards due to chemicals added to foods is provided for in the food safety sections of several laws.Because absolute safety is unattainable, the FDA applies a science based operational definition of the term.Accordingly, it becomes periodically necessary to review and change past decisions about the safe uses of substances.The need arises because of changes, with time, in the quantity and nature of the pertinent scientific information.This phenomenon is examined using FDA's ban of DES in meat production as an example.