How do the activities of USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service differ from the activities of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition?

The Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat (excluding game meats, such as venison), poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.

FDA is the federal agency that is responsible for overseeing most of the U.S. food supply. FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring the safety and security of our nation’s food supply; this is a vital part of FDA's mission and a primary task of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Under the leadership of FDA’s Office of Foods, CFSAN, the Center for Veterinary Medicine, and the foods-related portion of the Office of Regulatory Affairs carry out the agency's unified food program that protects and promotes the public health through the following activities:

• ensuring the safety of foods for humans, including food additives and dietary supplements, by setting science-based standards for preventing foodborne illness and ensuring compliance with these standards
• ensuring the safety of animal feed and the safety and effectiveness of animal drugs, including the safety of drug residues in human food derived from animals
• protecting the food and feed supply from intentional contamination
• ensuring that food labels are truthful and contain reliable information consumers can use to choose healthy diets