ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) downsizing activities and provides the background necessary for understanding the results and analysis. FDA is a consumer protection agency that regulates a wide variety of products. The FDA is a regulatory agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was established in 1953 to unify administration of federal health, education, and Social Security programs. FDA has the responsibility and authority to enforce numerous laws related to protecting the public's health. However, most of FDA's duties involve enforcing three major statutes. First, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 are enforced by FDA. The second statute is the Public Health Service Act of 1944. The third statute, the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1966, requires FDA to enforce honest and informative labeling of foods, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetic products.
