USDA Bureau of Chemistry Photograph Collection

The USDA Bureau of Chemistry was established in 1901 through Congressional appropriations as a successor to the USDA Division of Chemistry. The new Bureau of Chemistry significantly built upon the work of its predecessor, which under the leadership of chief chemist Harvey Washington Wiley conducted research into the adulteration and misbranding of food and drugs on the American market. The 1906 Food and Drug Act, also known as the "Wiley Act," notably increased the Bureau's regulatory powers and led to the establishment of laboratories throughout the United States for testing the purity and composition of foods and drugs. These laboratories and the Bureau's campaigns against chemical additives exemplified the general Progressive-era trend towards greater federal regulation in matters of public safety. However, several judicial decisions quickly curtailed the Bureau’s regulatory powers, which ultimately were reorganized under a new USDA body, the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Organization (later the Food and Drug Administration) in 1927.