Why was the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act passed?

• A. To regulate animal welfare
• B. Untested products led to human deaths
• C. To promote vaccine development
• D. To fund medical research

Answer: (B)

Protecting the public from unsafe, untested products is what the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act aimed to do. It arose after a horrific incident in which people died because a drug had not been proven safe, revealing the danger of selling products without proper testing. The act established that drugs must be shown to be safe before they can be marketed and that foods, drugs, and cosmetics must be properly labeled and overseen by a federal agency. That link between untested products and harm is why this reason is the best explanation for the act’s passage. The other options don’t capture what sparked the law—the drive was to prevent harm from unsafe, untested products, not primarily about animal welfare, vaccine development, or funding medical research.