The Food and Drug Administration or the FDA is a government agency under the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This organization works to protect the overall health of the public. It regulates and oversees the safety of cosmetics, foods, veterinary products, radiation-emitting devices, drugs, biological medical products, and the like.

The group also devotes itself to advancing the public health by promoting innovations that make foods and medicines more safe, effective, and affordable. In addition to that, the FDA also lends its assistance in order for people to get more accurate data helps them to improve their health.

Federal Laws that are administered through the agency are codified under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Several random items such as bottled water and medical maggots are regulated through the Food and Drug Administration.

The agency is based in Rockville, Maryland. It has a total of 223 field offices that are supported by 13 laboratories scattered across the United States, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. For the past few years, the FDA had initiated a large-scale effort to strengthen its operations in DC-metro areas. Formerly known as the White Oak Naval Surface Warfare Center, the Federal Research Center’s first building was established with more than a hundred employees in December 2003. The entire FDA project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.

Focusing on certain major areas of regulatory responsibility, the agency is organized into a number of major subdivisions. Under the Office of the Commissioner are eight other subgroups.

In order to maximize efficiency, the Food and Drug Administration often collaborates with other Federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Agriculture, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Customs and Border Protection. Moreover, both local and state government agencies also work frequently with the FDA in order to conduct regulatory inspections and enforcement action.