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FDA is the abbreviation of U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. FDA touches the lives of virtually every day. For it is
FDA's job to see that the food we eat is safe and wholesome, the cosmetics
we use won't hurt us, the medicines and medical devices we use are safe
and effective, and that radiation-emitting products such as microwave
ovens won't do us harm. Feed and drugs for pets and farm animals also come
under FDA scrutiny. FDA also ensures than all of these products are
labeled truthfully with the information that people need to use them
properly.
FDA is one of U.S. oldest and most respected consumer protection
and public health agencies, charged with protecting American consumers by
enforcing the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and several related
public health laws. To carry out this mandate of consumer protection, FDA
has some 1,100 investigators and inspectors who cover the country's almost
95,000 FDA-regulated businesses. These employees are located in district
and local offices in 157 cities across the country.
The scientific evidence needed to back up FDA's legal cases is
prepared by the agency's 2,100 scientists, including 900chemists and
300 microbiologists, who work in 40 laboratories in the Washington, D.C.,
area and around the country. Some of these scientists analyze samples to
see, for example, if products are contaminated with illegal substances.
Other scientists review test results submitted by company's seeking agency
approval for drugs, vaccines, food additives, coloring agents and medical
devices.
Stated most simply, FDA's mission is to promote and protect the
public health by helping safe and effective products reach the market in a
timely way, and monitoring products for continued safety attar they are in
use. FDA protects all consumers in the United States with a broad umbrella
of safeguards that enables them to go about their daily business without
worries about safety of the myriad products FDA regulates.
The magnitude of FDA's public health responsibilities is
formidable, but so is the spirit of the agency's managers and employees
and their readiness to meet the challenge. FDA is deeply committed to
continuing its historic bargain by providing the U.S. public with the
world's best public health protection. But in order to keep fulfilling the
public's expectations and maintaining its confidence, FDA needs the
public's support |
