Food and Drug Administration: Delaney Amendment

Named after its sponsor, Congressman James Delaney of New York, the Delaney Clause is an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, which requires that only food additives known to be “suitable and safe” for a given use can be used in foods, drugs, and cosmetics. The amendment specifically prohibits any additive “if it is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or laboratory animals or if it is found, after tests which are appropriate for the evaluation of the safety of food additives, to induce cancer in man or animals.”