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The Food and Drug Administration makes the basic decisions on what materials will be permitted in U.S. foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture then selects those items which it will allow in meats and poultry products. The Food and Drug Administration is in the process of developing definitions for soy products and issuing the regulatory controls over their uses. Care is being taken not to impose burdensome regulatory restrictions on a technology that is in a rapid state of development.

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Current regulatory activities at the Food and Drug Administration cluster about several main lines of thrust. (a) More informative labeling. Examples are nutrient labeling, ingredient labeling on standardized foods, percentage declaration of characterizing ingredients, and on new foods, the definition of generic names. (b) Increasing emphasis on effective cooperation between State and Federal authorities. (c) Increased emphasis on food plant inspection. (d) More emphasis on inspection of quality assurance instead of only production. This includes quality assurance procedures applied to plant sanitation. (e) Increased attention to environmental contaminants, such as toxic metals and industrial organic chemicals. (f) Review of the safety of food ingredients with initial emphasis on the GRAS list.