The Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 contains the codified Federal laws and regulations that are in effect as of the date of the publication pertaining to food and drugs, both legal pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs.

The use of drugs in food animal production has resulted in benefits throughout the food industry; however, their use has also raised public health safety concerns. The Use of Drugs in Food Animals provides an overview of why and how drugs are used in the major food-producing animal industriesâ€"poultry, dairy, beef, swine, and aquaculture. The volume discusses the prevalence of human pathogens in foods of animal origin. It also addresses the transfer of resistance in animal microbes to human pathogens and the resulting risk of human disease. The committee offers analysis and insight into these areas: Monitoring of drug residues. The book provides a brief overview of how the FDA and USDA monitor drug residues in foods of animal origin and describes quality assurance programs initiated by the poultry, dairy, beef, and swine industries. Antibiotic resistance. The committee reports what is known about this controversial problem and its potential effect on human health. The volume also looks at how drug use may be minimized with new approaches in genetics, nutrition, and animal management.

The Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Of all industries in the United States, the food industry must in fact be the most regulated by law. If it is not, its competition for this distinction goes unnoticed. All phases of the food industry are subjected to some control by law, beginning with the land food is grown on and the oceans from which it is harvested. Seed and plant stock are sometimes subjected to control such as to the nutritional value of the foods they produce. Acreages of agricultural crops, the quantities of foods to be produced, are regulated. As foods are produced, whether from plants or animals, the substances applied to increase yields or provide protection from pests are controlled to insure safe use. As foods enter and pass through the huge marketing system they are scrutinized from beginning to end by regulatory agents operating under authority of food laws. Those foods which are transformed through various technologies into today's thousands of consumer products are watched carefully to insure the appropriateness and safety of added ingredients, not all of which are natural, and the adequacy of processing, packaging and storage. Finally, the representation of foods to consumers through labeling and advertising is controlled to make sure it is accurate and sufficiently informative.