The
United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated as
FFDCA,
FDCA, or
FD&C), is a set of laws passed by
Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the
safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics. A principal author of this law was
Royal S. Copeland, a three-term U.S. Senator from New York. In 1968, the Electronic Product Radiation Control provisions were added to the FD&C. Also in that year the FDA formed the
Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) to incorporate into FD&C regulations the recommendations from a
National Academy of Sciences investigation of effectiveness of previously marketed drugs. The act has been amended many times, most recently to add requirements about
bioterrorism preparations.