The Conclusion

Over the course of this semester, I was very eager to do some research on the topic of the Food and Drug Administration and the impacts that their decisions / consumers demands have on the quality control and methods of manufacturing goods for the consumer. This topic I choose to report upon because health and nutrition is a personal hobby or adaptive lifestyle which is of interest to me. Thus, I definitely was a little more biased in the way that I viewed information because of the personal knowledge I have obtained or the years regarding the topic. Through the duration of the blogging, I began to lay my personal interests aside and really tried to find articles regarding the FDA and consumption goods that I had no knowledge of. Upon doing so, I was able to learn new material and report on some interesting facts!

This blog topic I had chosen has given me new insight regarding how regulations, laws, testing, and corporation and consumers interest influence the products that are for sale at our local grocery stores. Each facet mentioned has its own impact in the creation of goods and the FDAs regulations here in the United States. One important thing to note about this topic is that the FDA is by no means "perfect" in looking out for our best interest. In context, they do a very good job comparatively to most other countries in the world in making sure there is quality control for consumers. On the other hand, the FDA still is a very large and powerful organization that too has its own personal interest and can be swayed in certain directions from other large corporations within the food industry.

We as American citizens are fortunate enough to have such quality controls to help us make some what "educated" decisions, but at the end of the day, we individuals must take this knowledge that is presented to us to make our own personal decisions.  We must all take responsibility for our own actions in the aspect of the foods and drugs we consume, and not play the blame game against the FDA or any other organization for that matter. Just to reiterate, we have all the knowledge provided right in front of us, so it is up to us to make the best decision for ourselves in order to live a healthy lifestyle.

Here is a just a quick recap of the information that I covered  over the course of the semester regarding the FDA:
1) Classification of whole grains
2) Genetically modified (GMo) foods
3) Good manufacturing practices (GMP) supplement certifications
4) Regulations on food colors
5) Tobacco governance and ingredients lists
6) Food labeling of trans-fatty acids
7) Increasing safety reporting requirements

In the future, the FDA will continue to conduct is role as a governing body to ensure that consumers and people of the United States are informed and thus able to protect themselves. Since the FDA is funded through government budgeting, their is slight unpredictability in how proactive the FDA can be in conducting new research and upholding new regulations. The economy and consumer demand can play a major part in how well the FDA can perform its operations and continue to grow in order to pursue its future objectives.

I hope that for whomever followed this blog, you were able to learn some interesting facts and have gained some basic knowledge on the topic! There is so much information out there regarding this topic that you could get lost in it! Thanks for following, please leave feedback!

The FDAs rigorous safety-monitoring program

Here is an interesting read from the Wall Street Journal in regards to an increase in demand for the FDA to strengthen its safety reporting requirements:

FDA in Hot Seat on Safety (WSJ)