Delaney Clause
The Delaney Clause was included in the Food Additives Amendment of 1958 and stated that no food additive (including pesticides) shall be considered safe if it is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal (a zero cancer risk standard).
In it's entirety it reads:
"No additive shall be deemed to be safe 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."
The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) signed into law August 3, 1996 revised the Delaney Clause so that it no longer affects pesticides. The FQPA instead instituted a general "safe" standard of a reasonable certainty of no harm to consumers.
For more about the Delaney Clause:
- USDA Report - The New Food Quality Protection Act and Cal/EPA Reactions
- Environmental Working Group - The Nation's New Pesticide Law
- American Council on Science and Health
An opinion against the Delaney Clause published before the 1996 Act.