The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for everything from the proper labeling of foods to the inspection of mammography facilities. They’re responsible for making sure the “general public” is safe from misrepresented products and that drugs won’t have dangerous side effects.

The FDA was created in 1906 and is under the direct jurisdiction of the federal government of the U.S. Its 2008 annual budget was $2.3 billion and the FDA used every penny of it. As it regulates $1 trillion in consumer goods, it’s probably safe to say that nobody wants to underpay the people who are keeping us safe from, well, just about everything.

This isn’t to say that sometimes companies and products slide by the FDA.

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