C.A.F.D.I.
(California Association of Food and Drug Investigators)

Food and Drug Investigator series:
Summary of Education and Training requirements and duty description

California Food and Drug Investigators within the California Department of Health Services Food and Drug Branch are full time sworn Peace Officers per California Penal Code section 830.3(f) and HSC 106500 with training and education in law enforcement and hard science. All investigators must attend and successfully complete a P.O.S.T. certified Basic Police Academy program within their first year of employment. Investigators also must attend and successfully complete an additional Food and Drug Branch Academy which trains the investigator in the various program areas within the branch regarding applicable laws and regulations, enforcement policies and procedures, and technological aspects specific to each industry’s category of commodities and manufacturing operations, processes, and procedures. Investigators are also required to participate in and successfully complete additional ongoing P.O.S.T. officer safety training, quarterly firearms qualifications, chemical weapons training, arrest and control, defensive tactics training, and CPR.

Education

All food and Drug Investigators have a bachelor’s degree with a major in science, many have additional degrees in advanced science, criminal justice, and/or other certifications and credentials in law enforcement, specific industry technologies, and other public safety, and investigative skills subjects.

California SPB minimum requirements (MQ):Equivalent to graduation from college with at least 30 semester hours of college courses in one or a combination of bacteriology, biology, chemistry, food technology, pharmacology, environmental health, biomedical engineering, or other biological or chemical science. (Up to 15 semester hours in criminal justice may be credited toward 15 of the 30 total required above.)

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

Food and Drug Investigators conduct overt and undercover investigations, routine inspections, compliance and enforcement activities, and pre-licensing inspections; respond to local and statewide emergencies involving outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, consumer complaints, tampering, acts of bio-terrorism, and other homeland security mandates within the state; work in tandem with or assume lead roles in investigations and enforcement activities involving federal and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies;

interpret and apply State and Federal laws and regulations pertaining to the wholesale manufacture, marketing, and distribution of specified processed food commodities, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, homeopathic drugs, dietary supplements, surgically installed and externally applied medical devices and medical/health care industry equipment, cosmetics, and statewide retail sales of tobacco products;

audit and evaluate the operations of manufacturing plants with respect to epidemiology, pharmaceutical chemistry, bacteriology, food technology, vector control, and engineering principles;

use and apply investigative and enforcement procedures and techniques; rules of evidence; general concepts of civil and criminal case law; analyze data and field situations; present ideas and information both orally and in writing; work
independently; draw valid conclusions; make quick and accurate decisions; take
effective action and prepare clear and comprehensive reports; physically perform duties of the class.

California Food and Drug Branch Law Enforcement History

In April 1850 California Governor Peter H. Burnett approved section 125 of the Crimes and Punishment Act which provide criminal fines and imprisonment in the county jail for knowingly selling “any flesh of any diseased animal or other unwholesome provision, or any adulterated provisions or drink or liquors…”

But it was the passage in 1852 of the “Flour Inspection Act” that provided the first law enforcement authority for the protection of the public welfare by food inspection. This Act authorized the Governor, with advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint “…for a term of two years, a competent person as Inspector of Flour, to reside in San Francisco.” This inspector had the authority to appoint a suitable number of deputies for different ports of entry. Under a separate Act the same year a similar position was established as ‘the gauger of wines and liquors” for the quantity and quality of these products arriving at the Port of San Francisco.

In 1853 a Flour Inspection Act amendment provided for eight “competent persons” as “Inspectors of Flour” specifically placing two inspectors in San Francisco, and one each in the cities of Sacramento, Marysville, Stockton, Benecia, Monterey, and San Diego. Additional fines were also added to the Act, but since this amendment made inspection permissive the Flour Inspection Act was repealed in 1854.

In 1860 an new Act was approved to prohibit the sale of adulterated beverages, and made it a crime to “intermix any drug or poisonous compound, or any other thing deleterious to health…” to a variety of beverages.

The basic legislation for what was to evolve into the California Pure Foods Act, was approved on May 2, 1862 declaring it a “misdemeanor to adulterate, with any poisonous substance, any article to be used as food or drink by persons, or sell or give away any article so adulterated.” This law also provided five other misdemeanors related to proper labeling statements and with fines up to $1000 (a huge sum in those days) and up to six months in jail or both.

For two decades a variety of new food adulteration laws and State Board of Health reports finally led to a March 9, 1885 act empowering the Governor to appoint a “State Analyst” to prevent the adulteration of “minerals, mineral waters, and other liquids, and medicinal plants of the State of California, and of food and drugs…” by investigating samples provided by a representative the State Board of Health, or after March 31, 1891 by the “Attorney for the State Board of Health” who was appointed by the Governor.

In 1895 a very comprehensive Food and Drug Law was enacted. This law combined a variety of early health protection laws for these products, but it wasn’t until after the passage of the federal Pure Foods and Drug Act on June 30th, 1906, and the two California “McCartney Pure Food and Drug Acts” on March 11th, 1907 that provided, for the first time since the repeal of the 1852 of the Flour Inspection Act, a specific law enforcement authority, this time with the State Board of Health and their appointed Director of the Pure Food and Drugs Laboratory, Professor Meyer E. Jaffa.

By August 1908 Professor Jaffa had an inspector enforcing the new law in California canneries.

In 1915 the State Board of Health was charged with enforcing new California Penal Code Section 654a, prohibiting fraudulent advertising of food manufacturing equipment.

Botulism poisonings caused by olives canned by a California company in November 1919 and June 1921 eventually led the California legislature to establish within the State Board of Health a division of cannery inspection, and provide for the appointment of a Chief Cannery Inspector, and additional cannery inspectors on May 23, 1925.

On April 29th, 1927 the California State Board of Health was abolished and all powers and duties transferred to the new Department of Public Health.

It was during this period that the needs, responsibilities, and necessary authorities of the broadening area of food and drug law enforcement emerged.

The public consistently demanded that these fundamental legal protections be vigorously enforced to assure that all foods processed or sold within California were safe, wholesome, unadulterated and had legal labels which were not false or misleading.

It became self evident that to enforce these law a certain level of scientific knowledge was required to recognize violations, properly collect evidence, and prove violation has occurred. Therefore this area of law demanded science based law enforcement and health protection.

Even as early as the 1852 for the Flour Inspection Act it was recognized that law enforcement authority was vital to provide such protection to the public. Beside protection from health hazards it was also recognized early that there were individuals who exploited the public, and unfairly competed against law-abiding business by selling food, drugs, and phony medical devices under false pretenses. Additionally, law enforcement status was identified as being essential in disaster and emergency situations, and that the unchallenged authority provided to peace officers was necessary to protect food and medical supplies that can more easily become contaminated, misused, and otherwise be a health threat during these situations.



In 1939 the Legislature granted “peace officer” authority to the Chief of the Bureau of Food and Drug Inspections, and his inspectors under California Health and Safety Code (H&S) Section 26329 and 26551. Subsequently in 1968 Food and Drug peace officer authority was re-codified to H&S Section 216 (which was re-codified again to the current H&S 106500) and specific authority was also noted in the California Penal Code Section 830.3(m). As other peace officer classes were added to the FDB Penal Code subdivision, it has changed many times, and is currently 830.3(f).

On December 12th, 1944 the State Personnel Board (SPB) established the first official peace officer position in what is currently The Food and Drug Investigator class Series. That first position has become the Supervising Food and Drug Investigator. In 1946 SPB added the Senior Food and Drug Investigator position, in 1973 the Food and Drug Regional Administrator and Program Specialist positions were added, and FDB “Inspectors” were renamed “Specialists”. Another name change occurred in 1985 changing “FDB Specialist” to “FDB Investigators”.

In 1969 and 1970 respectively, the California anti-quackery Cancer Law, and the current compressive Sherman Food, Drug and Cosmetics Law were passed and are the basis for most of the current Food and Drug enforcement responsibilities.
Additionally there have been over twenty new amendments to those statutes, and other public health protection laws that are the responsibility of FDB to enforce.

In the last 60 years the need for peace officer authority in the California Food and Drug Branch has grown significantly. To that end the legislature has provided extraordinary authorities, such as the embargo and quarantine powers, and the ability to search certain facilities and records for violations and potential health hazards without a warrant. Additionally, many investigations require obtaining search warrants, arrest warrants, or the personal service of other legal processes. In 1970 the Judicial Council approved a special criminal citation (Notice to Appear) form for use by FDB Investigators. To assure that these powers are available to Food and Drug Investigators, are used judiciously, and the rights of others understood, ongoing knowledge provided peace officer standards, legal responsibilities, and safety training are vital.

New and more dangerous pathogens require thorough, immediate, advanced legal investigations. Without peace officer authority investigations could be significantly delayed and known hazards could grow possibly causing widespread injury and death, as it did with the botulism cases in the 1920’s.
These investigations regularly involve embargoes and seizure of large quantities of contaminated products.

Fraudulent labeling and advertisement of drugs and medical devices, many of these products worthless and some lethal, have been sold for decades, and continue to be sold throughout California to diagnose, treat, and/or cure serious diseases such as cancer, AIDS, and SARS. Not only are these fraudulent products hazardous and waste millions of dollars each year, they have led critically ill individuals away from proven legal treatments that could have saved their lives. These investigations many times involve seasoned “scam” artist with criminal records, and are financially and sometimes scientifically complex in nature. It is common for FDB to work joint investigations on these types of cases with law enforcement units from the U.S. Customs Service, California Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office, and local police narcotics task forces. Cooperative investigations with these agencies would be extremely difficult without the legal confidentiality required of sworn peace officers. Criminal and civil case information once shared outside authorized law enforcement becomes “public” and if release would likely compromise ongoing investigations. Federal law enforcement, and Attorney Generals in other states routinely ask before sharing investigative information if FBD staff has powers of arrest.

In 1994 FDB was required to start enforcing youth retail tobacco access statutes throughout California. One of these laws, the STAKE Act, requires Branch investigators to use 15 and 16-year-old youth decoys in undercover “buy bust” investigations. FDB conducts over two thousand of these operations each year, with all notices of violation being made in person. Since all areas of the state must be visited some have high crime rates, and pose higher potential risk. The responsibility for youth undercover operatives requires extra and specialized law enforcement training for FDB investigators. Recruitment of youth to accomplish the enforcement of the STAKE Act is difficult, and many times the only reason parent’s allow their children to participate is the constant supervision by a sworn peace officer during field operations. Without the youth, the STAKE Act could not be enforced.