Fun Trivia : Consumer Protection

Structure Sub-topic of: Business World Quizzes Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 10 general entries. Special Topics General Business The US Mortgage Meltdown, what to do now? The Car Buying Experience

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Consumer Protection

The Heyburn Bill, passed in 1906, regulated producers and sellers in the food industry. Once it became law, what was the name given to this act?

History of Consumer Protection


The Pure Food and Drug Act. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 really only prohibited folks from selling diseased meats, rotting foodstuffs, or dangerously adulterated food products. The Act also required only that when labels of ingredients were used on a product, that the description of those ingredients was truthful. It essentially also established the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).



In 1872, the U.S. Congress enacted the very first consumer protection law. This law affected which industry?

History of Consumer Protection


postal. The law made it a federal offense to run scams through the mail. Previously, mail scams were rampant and unpunishable, as there was no regulation against it. Seems that junk mail's been with us a very long time.



The very first pure food laws in the U.S. were enacted on a state level, not federal, in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Illinois (not surprisingly, all states with major food processing cities). What was the year?

History of Consumer Protection


1881.



In 1889, the U.S. Congress proposed the first federal pure food bill, and what happened?

History of Consumer Protection


The bill was met with ridicule.. Yep, even after a congressional committee had published, seven years earlier, a list of all the Americans who had died from eating food and using medicines that had been adulterated with poisons and other substances. The committee's report said at that time that these incidents "are largely of the nature of fraud upon the consumer" and that such fraud "has become almost universal."



In 1890, many state laws required that milk be what?

History of Consumer Protection


pasteurized. Some dairy interests were opposed to pasteurization, and a lot of regular folks called it "unnatural" because the milk was heated well beyond the boiling point (to 125 degrees celsius) in a pressurized container. Pasteur eventually did refine the process to use lower temperatures.



In the Spanish-American War, more U.S. troops died from this than from any other cause. What was it?

History of Consumer Protection


eating contaminated meat. This event was probably the single, most important reason that finally forced the federal government to enact national protection legislation, as there was a public outcry.



In 1912, which commonly known and cited (and still routinely prosecuted) code was first adopted?

History of Consumer Protection


the Truth in Advertising Code. The code was adopted by the Associated Advertising Clubs of America.



In World War II, U.S. troops stationed in Britain were forbidden to consume what local item?

History of Consumer Protection


milk. British milk was not pasteurized at the time, and many diseases affecting Britons were transmitted through it.



In 1965, Ralph Nader released his first book, "Unsafe at Any Speed." This book was a condemnation of and pushed for consumer protection within which industry?

History of Consumer Protection


the automobile industry. Nader was brought to the U.S. Department of Labor in '64 as a consulting attorney, but quit his job after the report he wrote on the auto industry was essentially ignored. Deciding to crusade for consumer protection, he turned that report into the landmark book. At the time, most cars didn't even have seat belts. Nader cited in the book that by 1965, more than 51,000 Americans were killed each year in or by automobiles, a figure the Department of Commerce had projected for 1975.



As of 2002, the U.S. FDA is currently part of which Cabinet-level department?

History of Consumer Protection


Health and Human Services. The Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) was abolished in 1980, and became the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS). The FDA began in 1906 as part of the Dept. of Agriculture, but in 1953 was moved to HEW.