File:Food Standards (FDA 159) (8211144117).jpg

English: FDA helps assure the quality of foods by setting standards spelling out the mandatory and optional ingredients in common foods. The foods on the left meet these requirements and are clearly labeled using their “common” or “usual” names such as “milk,” “ice cream,” “enriched bread,” “fruit preserves,” and “peanut butter.”

Non-standardized foods, such as those on the right, are often substitutes. This Smucker’s Strawberry Spread, for example has less sugar than its standardized counterpart and therefore cannot be labeled “preserves.” For diabetics and dieters, for example, these non-standard foods are important.

For more information about FDA history visit www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/default.htm