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5
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Budget
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The FDA requests a total budget of $3.2 billion under the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget. This increase reflects an additional $259.3 million for Protecting America’s Food Supply; added to the $662 million for FY 2009, the proposed total for food safety at the FDA is $921.3 million in FY 2010. Within this initiative, the FDA proposes to collect a total of $94.4 million in new user fees to register food facilities and increase food inspections, issue food and feed export certifications, and reinspect food facilities that fail to meet its safety standards (FDA, 2009e).
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6
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Number of employees for food
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The estimated full-time equivalents (FTEs) for FY 2010 are
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947 FTEs in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN),
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456 FTEs in the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM),
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4,365 FTEs in the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) (Of those 4,365, there is no specific number of FTEs dedicated to food safety [FDA, 2009f]. The FY 2010 budget stipulates 678 FTEs dedicated to Protecting America’s Food Supply [FDA, 2009e]), and
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1,062 FTEs inspecting food (Givens, 2009).
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7
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Definition of “food”
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The term “food” means (1) articles used for food or drink for man or other animals, (2) chewing gum, and (3) articles used for components of any such article (21 U.S.C. 321, 1938, Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, Section 201, Chapter II, “Definitions”).
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8
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Items regulated
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The agency as a whole regulates biologics, cosmetics, drugs, foods, medical devices, radiation-emitting electronic products, and veterinary products (FDA, 2009g). Recently, tobacco products were added to this list. As for food products, the FDA regulates all foods exchanged through interstate commerce or imported, with the exception of meat, poultry, and egg products, all of which are in the domain of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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