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U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND RELATED ORGANIZATIONS

FDA:- Food and Drug Administration

Overview

Governed by	Department of Health and Human Services
Mission Statement	Per FDA's website at:  www.fda.gov/opacom/morechoices/mission.html To promote the public health by promptly and efficiently reviewing clinical research and taking appropriate action on the marketing of regulated products in a timely manner; With respect to such products, protect the public health by ensuring that foods are safe, wholesome, sanitary, and properly labeled; human and veterinary drugs are safe and effective; there is reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of devices intended for human use; cosmetics are safe and properly labeled, and; public health and safety are protected from electronic product radiation; Participate through appropriate processes with representatives of other countries to reduce the burden of regulation, harmonize regulatory requirements, and achieve appropriate reciprocal arrangements; and, As determined to be appropriate by the Secretary, carry out paragraphs (1) through (3) in consultation with experts in science, medicine, and public health, and in cooperation with consumers, users, manufacturers, importers, packers, distributors and retailers of regulated products.
Commissioner	Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D.
Web Page	http://www.fda.gov/
Overview	FDA develops standards for the composition, quality, nutrition and safety of foods, including food and color additives. It does research to improve detection and prevention of food contamination. It also sets standards for certain foods and enforces federal regulations on labeling, food and color additives, food sanitation and safety of foods.
Paper Trail	See PARA's Paper Trail for communications between PARA and various agencies of the U.S. Government.

Before proceeding further, we would encourage you to read the Important Developments Page prior to reading the rest of this webpage. This will give you some background which may be helpful in evaluating the action or inaction taken by FDA, and to assess PARA's Concerns in light of significant developments that have taken place around the world.

Introduction

FDA, a part of the Department of Health and Human Service, is responsible for ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of all foods sold in interstate commerce except for meat, poultry and eggs, all of which are under United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) jurisdiction.

Among the agencies within the FDA which hold responsibility for food safety are

• Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).
  
• Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM).
  
• Office of Plant, Dairy Foods and Beverages (OPDFB).
   

PARA's Concerns

The comprehensive research agenda put forth by National Institute of Health's NIAID certainly paves the way for other agencies responsible for human health and food safety to exercise the precautionary principle and take immediate action to protect the public.

PARA is deeply concerned that there is nobody within any of the FDA centers responsible for food safety who is willing to take responsibility for dealing with the problem of MAP in foods derived from cattle. The Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) are adamant that they hold no responsibility for human pathogens in food, and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)  have taken four different positions in the last year in relation to MAP in retail food supplies. PARA is also deeply concerned about any possible links between the dairy industry and food safety policy in relation to their products.  

Visit the above dedicated pages on CVM and CFSAN for detailed information.

Action You Can Take

Please visit PARA's "How to Help" section to learn how you can get involved in creating awareness about this vital issue.