Food and Drug Administration

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, caffeine products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, animal foods & feed[3] and veterinary products.

Quick facts: Agency overview, Formed, Preceding agencies, ... ▼

Food and Drug Administration

Agency overview
Formed	June 30, 1906; 117 years ago (1906-06-30)[1]
Preceding agencies	Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration (July 1927 – July 1930) Bureau of Chemistry, USDA (July 1901 – July 1927) Division of Chemistry, USDA (established 1862)
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	White Oak Campus 10903 New Hampshire Avenue Silver Spring, Maryland 20993 39°02′07″N 76°58′59″W
Employees	18,000 (2022)[2]
Annual budget	US$6.5 billion (2022)[2]
Agency executives	Robert Califf, Commissioner Janet Woodcock, Principal Deputy Commissioner
Parent agency	Department of Health and Human Services
Child agencies	Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Center for Devices and Radiological Health Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Center for Tobacco Products Center for Veterinary Medicine National Center for Toxicological Research Office of Criminal Investigations Office of Regulatory Affairs
Website	fda.gov

The FDA's primary focus is enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C), but the agency also enforces other laws, notably Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act, as well as associated regulations. Much of this regulatory-enforcement work is not directly related to food or drugs, but involves such things as regulating lasers, cellular phones, and condoms, as well as control of disease in contexts varying from household pets to human sperm donated for use in assisted reproduction.

The FDA is led by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Commissioner reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Robert Califf is the current commissioner, as of 17 February 2022.^[update][4]

The FDA has its headquarters in unincorporated White Oak, Maryland.[5] The agency also has 223 field offices and 13 laboratories located throughout the 50 states, the United States Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.[6] In 2008, the FDA began to post employees to foreign countries, including China, India, Costa Rica, Chile, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.[7]