Events affecting environmental health and food safety policy, programs and organization and emerging or identified foodborne diseases are reviewed by decade. The review starts with the impact of the 1940s war years on environmental sanitation, as it was called, and disease control. It continues with the intensifying disease surveillance and improvements in sanitation of the 1950s and the improvements in foodborne-disease surveillance and the reorganization of environmental programs of the 1960s. Many previously unknown foodborne pathogens were identified, and more changes in environmental policy came about in the 1970s. Evaluation of foodborne-disease control measures were initiated. In the 1980s, evaluation of major foodborne-disease problems came to the forefront. In the 1990s, the media and consumer groups became aware of foodborne-disease problems and concerned with the environment. The first decade of the 21st century will be faced with continuing dilemmas posed by emerging diseases and will need to provide solutions through the balancing of science, education, and politics.