Food & Drug Administration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees the regulation of food (except meat and poultry), human and animal drugs, biological products (blood, vaccines, and transplant tissues), radiation-emitting consumer and professional medical equipment, cosmetics, tobacco products, and animal feed. Part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US possessions. Its operating budget is around $4 billion, more than $1.3 billion of which goes to food safety including protecting America's food supply at home and abroad. The FDA was founded in 1862 as the Division of Chemistry (with only one staff member); it became the FDA in 1930.