I used to notice the words “Reg. Penna. Dept. Ag.” on lots of food packages in decades past.
I don’t think I’ve seen that label, however, for several years. Is it just something occurring locally, or has this practice maybe gone by the wayside?
Does Penna’s Dept Ag perhaps no longer Reg food items intended for interstate sales?
I don’t know the answer (try GQ), but when I was growing up, I expected that if went to NJ, the baked goods would be reg’d in the NJ Ag Dept. Nope, still PA. Okay, they buy all their stuff in Philly. Then I lived for a couple years in NY. Still reg’d Penna dept of Ag. Then four years in IL; still PA Ag. Then I lived for 6 months in Switzerland; still the packaged baked goods were reg’d in Penna. WTF? I still don’t understand it, but I think you are right’ it has gone away.
Cecil answered the original question of “why do my foods say Reg. Dept. Penna. Agr.” back in 1981.
Short version: Pennsylvania was never trying to regulate interstate food sales; they were, however, requiring registration for those companies selling baked goods in Pennsylvania. And, so, rather than creating different versions of labels for in Pennsylvania versus other states, many companies just put the term on all of their labels.