About FDA
When and why was FDA formed?
Though FDA can trace its history back to the appointment of chemist Lewis Caleb Beck to the Agricultural Division in the Patent Office in 1848, its origins as a federal consumer protection agency began with the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. This law was the culmination of about 100 bills over a quarter-century that aimed to rein in long-standing, serious abuses in the consumer product marketplace.
The passage of the 1906 Act was due in large part to the untiring scientific and political efforts of Harvey Washington Wiley, who at the time was chief chemist of the Bureau of Chemistry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, FDA’s predecessor. The 1906 Act, which prohibited misbranded and adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce, charged the Bureau of Chemistry to carry out its provisions.
Eventually, the position of chief chemist of the Bureau of Chemistry evolved into that of the commissioner of food and drugs.
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- FDA Basics Webinar: FDA Office of Minority Health - Steps to Address Health Disparities
- FDA Basics Metrics: July 2012
- FDA Basics Metrics: June 2012
- FDA Basics Metrics: December 2011
- FDA Basics Metrics: May 2012
- FDA Basics Metrics: April 2012
- FDA Basics Metrics: January 2012
- FDA Basics Metrics: March 2012
- FDA Basics Metrics: February 2012
- Who should I contact about products not regulated by FDA?
- What doesn’t FDA regulate? How do I contact the agencies that do?
- What does FDA regulate?
- How can I be notified about new import alerts?
- How is FDA organized?
- How can the public request documents from FDA?
- Materials from Webinar on Inspection Process
- FDA Webinar on Foreign Inspections
- FDA MedWatch Webinar
- FDA Basics Metrics: November 2011
- FDA Basics Metrics: October 2011
- FDA Basics Metrics : September 2011
- FDA Basics Metrics: August 2011
- FDA Basics Metrics: July 2011
- FDA Basics Metrics: June 2011
- FDA Basics Metrics: May 2011
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