Product tampering has been handled by the FBI since October 13, 1983, with the passing of the Federal Anti-Tampering Act. Offenses under the Act include: tampering or threatening or attempting to tamper with any consumer product, its label or container and knowingly communicating false information that a product is tainted.
This act was pushed through Congress as a result of the September 1982 poisoning deaths of seven Chicago-area residents from store-bought Tylenol bottles laced with potassium cyanide. As a result, all medicine bottles in the US now have anti-tampering packaging on them.
While the FBI worked with more than 100 state and local investigators in an effort to solve the crimes, the case was never solved due to lack of evidence.
