The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is responsible for assuring that animal drugs and medicated feeds are safe and effective and that food from treated animals is safe to eat. In 1968, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was amended to include animal drugs.
CVM works to educate consumers as well as the regulated industry; evaluates data on proposed veterinary products carefully before permitting them to be marketed; discovers volatile marketed products through surveillance programs, and initiates legal action, if necessary, to bring violators into compliance with the law; and conducts research to support Center activities.
The FDA publishes recalls and alerts about unsafe pet products. It regulates pet foods and medicine but not vaccines. Vaccines are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Besides checking whether a medication is safe for pets, the FDA also checks whether it is harmful to the environment.
For more information, see the FDA’s CVM website.
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