As concerns about fraud and adulteration of food became more acute in the 1880s, some urban authorities created new institutions to fight against them and guarantee the quality of products sold. This was the case of Grenoble, where a municipal laboratory for food analyses was established in 1887. Initially founded to provide individual protection for consumers, the laboratory was soon became part of a more ambitious program; i.e. the constitution of a sanitary surveillance system around the municipal health board. By 1908, it was integrated into the national system of food surveillance introduced by the law of 1st August 1905. The history of Grenoble’s laboratory illustrates, first of all, the great activity of cities in the surveillance of food quality. It also shows the difficulties encountered when administrations began to organize this policy sector.