On Feb. 24, 1914, the U.S. Supreme Court issued, in U.S. v. Lexington Mill and Elevator Company, its first ruling on food additives. It ruled that in order for bleached flour with nitrite residues to be banned from foods, the government must show a relationship between the chemical additive and the harm it allegedly caused in humans. The court also noted that the mere presence of such an ingredient was not sufficient to render the food illegal.