The FDA stands for The Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA regulates food, prescription and over the counter drugs, cosmetics, veterinary and tobacco products, vaccines, electronics such as those that give off radiation as well as x-ray machines, and medical devices. The FDA is the oldest government organization that was committed to buyer security. The FDA, while not originally called this, started in 1906 with the approval of the Pure Food and Drugs Act. This act was designed to avoid mislabeled food and drug products and was the start of making sure every ingredient was put on labels. In fact, this act was given to the Bureau of Chemistry section in the US Department of Agriculture which was renamed the FDA in 1930. The responsibilities of the FDA have been modified completely since 1906. The market itself, the science behind it, and the cultural, political, and economic changes have had sudden changes over the past 108 years. Therefore, a long standing argument has developed over whether or not the FDA is necessary. People that are indeed against the FDA complain that they take too long to approve drugs and spend too much government money. People for the FDA claim that the agency keeps us safe and without it, many Americans could suffer serious side effects or even die. Although I can see both sides over the need for the FDA, I concede that it is helping us more than it is hurting us. The FDA is a necessary agency because they regulate what is put into our cosmetics and skincare as well as the labeling on it so we can avoid false advertisement. Actually, two years ago, the FDA added new regulations for the ... ... middle of paper ... ...d potentially harm a lot of people. But Americans, foreigners, and Johnson & Johnson ignored the FDA because of the popular belief that the FDA is too regulatory and picky. However in the process of them not listening to the FDA, so many people were harmed. Even other countries versions of the FDA approved it which goes to show how careless other countries were/are. Even though Americans are constantly in doubt of the FDA, they still have our best interest in mind. The FDA is vital to our country, albeit makes mistakes. Sometimes the FDA can be too strict or they can take too long to approve a drug. But I think for the most part, the FDA is really looking out for our country and wants to be on the people's good side rather than the businesses good side. The FDA has a public mission to keep our country healthy and I feel quite safe in their hands.
...ous tests (Law, 2004). They also must now have the FDA’s approval in order for a certain food or drug to be sold directly to consumers. Also the marketplace has changed, due to new ways to process the product in a more safe and effective manner. There were also changes due to political, economical, social, and cultural changes since 1906. In conclusion, the Food and Drug Act paved the way for the Progressive movement and food safety in America.
“Pure Food and Drug Act 1906.” 34 U.S. Stats. 768, quoted in Medicine in the Americas, Bethesda, Maryland: National Library of Medicine, 2004. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22116/.
"Pure Food and Drug Act: A Muckraking Triumph." Food and Drug Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
In Lee Ann Fisher Baron’s “Junk Science,” she claims that the “food industry with the help of federal regulators” sometimes use “[a science that] bypasses [the] system of peer review. Presented directly to the public by…‘experts’ or ‘activists,’ often with little or no supporting evidence, this ‘junk science’ undermines the ability…[for] everyday consumers to make rational decisions” (921). Yet Americans still have a lot of faith in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to a 2013 Pew Research study, 65% of Americans are “very favorable” or “mostly favorable” of the FDA. When it comes to what people put in their bodies, the FDA has a moral obligation to be truthful and transparent. The bottom line of the FDA’s myriad of responsibilities is to help protect the health of Americans. Deciding what to eat is a critical part of living healthily, and consumers must be able to trust that this massive government agency is informing them properly of the contents of food. While the FDA does an excellent job in many areas, it has flaws in other areas. One of its flaws is allowing the food industry to print food labels that are deceptive, unclear, or simply not true (known as misbranding). This is quite the hot topic because a Google search for “Should I trust food labels” returns well over 20 million results, many of which are blog posts from online writers begging their readers not to trust food labels. HowStuffWorks, a division of Discovery Communications, published an online article whose author claims that “[the food industry] will put what they want on labels. They know the game….” While the food industry is partially at blame for misbranding, the FDA is allowing it to happen. If a mother tells her children that it is oka...
...n potential death. What the FDA should do is support funding for more advertising, encouraging all citizens to be more aware with the potentially hazardous products they consume. I’m sure if people without food allergies were more aware of the potential harm their daily snack could cause to someone else, they would start to use a lot more caution.
The momentum generated by the passage of the Meat Inspection Act helped secure the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which had been stalled in Congress since 1905. With these two pieces of legislation, the federal government took important steps to assure the public that the food they were eating met minimu...
In addition, the agency is also in charge of providing accurate labels without any misleading information (Farley 1). The DSHEA lets “natural” products be sold without any proof that the product is safe. "In 1994 Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which allowed supplements- broadly defined as vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, and other products that don’t contain approved pharmaceutical drugs and don’t claim to treat d...
FDAs public health protection duties. By ensuring that products and producers meet certain standards, FDA protects consumers and enables them to know what they are
and ethics. Outside advisors to the FDA have listened to hearings and a committee is to focus
"Regulatory Information." Federal Food and Drugs Act of 1906. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 20 May 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
The Food and Drug Administration has played an important role in the American society known today. In fact the Food and Drug Administration affects every citizen of the United States. Its main goal is to ensure knowledge of products and protection to every citizen that range from atmospheric hazards to the medicine and food consumed in the United States. A strong workforce of inspectors is responsible for monitoring trading and safety standards in the food and drug industries. Although many tasks done by the FDA go unnoticed by the average citizen, an absence of the FDA would most definitely not go unnoticed. However the importance of the FDA today is just as important as to how it got initiated.
"About FDA." Why Are Animals Used for Testing Medical Products? N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar.
Government regulation on food, drinks and medicine has created safer products for public use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is constantly working hard at making sure that the food and medicine produced and sold by corporations are safe for public health and are produced in an ethical manner. Food and pharmaceutical corporations are forced to follow strict guidelines so that their products are allowed to be sold in the United States. Much of the public doesn’t realize that the Food and Drug Administration is also in charge of regulating the cosmetics that are sold within the United States. However, unlike food and drugs, cosmetics companies are loosely regulated and given a greater freedom to produce items they choose.
Who does it protect?FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that radiation.
After the drug labeling, the application is received and the FDA has 60 days to decide whether to file it, the FDA review team, which is made up of physicians, statisticians, chemists, pharmacologists, and another scientist, evaluate the sponsor’s research on the safety and effectiveness. The sponsor of the drug asks the FDA to approve it for marketing by presenting a new drug application which includes all the animal and human data. Also, information on how the drug works in the body and how it is manufactured. Prior to submission of the new drug application the FDA meets with the drug’s sponsor, and the facility that the drug will be manufactured. The final step is the FDA’s approval of the application or the sponsor is issued a response