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This week in FDA history.This weekly feature from 2006, the FDA's centennial year, highlights history and progress in the agency's first 100 years.A sampling of significant events in the Food and Drug Administration's first 100 years.
Photo of Commissioner of Food and Drugs George P. Larrick
Aug. 12, 1954:
George P. Larrick becomes Commissioner of Food and Drugs. During his tenure, the FDA built 10 new, modern laboratory facilities for FDA field districts across the country and an $18.5 million headquarters building in Washington, D.C., housing laboratories and offices.
 

FDA in 2006
The FDA regulates over 120,000 business establishments that annually produce, warehouse, import and transport $1 trillion worth of consumer goods. Scientists in the FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs' 13 laboratories analyze more than
40,000 product samples each year to determine their adherence to the FDA's standards. The analyzed products include samples of almost 10 million import shipments that are overseen by ORA inspectors in the nation's ports of entry.
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