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Food and Drug Unit
The Food and Drug Unit of the Office of Public Health regulates a variety of activities and processes pertaining to food, drugs, and cosmetics in the state of Louisiana. Regulated facilities include food-manufacturing facilities; drug-manufacturing facilities; food and drug storage warehouses; ice-manufacturing plants; ice-vending units; bottled water facilities; acidified- and low-acid canned foods processors; food banks; breweries; wineries; wholesale producers of value-added seafood products (such as gumbos and etouffees); beef and poultry product storage warehouses; medical-gas manufacturers and trans-fillers; medical-gas distribution facilities; UV tanning facilities; commercial body art (tattooing, permanent makeup, and body piercing) facilities; and water-vending units.
FDU inspectors conduct inspections on behalf of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as part of the Federal Inspection Program (FIP) contract. Staff members issue thousands of export certificates and certificates of free sale annually.
Please note that for assistance with retail operations like restaurants and grocery stores, you must contact your local parish health unit sanitarian.
Resources
- Online Permit Renewal Payment by Credit Card if you wish to pay for your permit renewal online, you may do so here--THIS SYSTEM IS FOR PERMITS TO OPERATE ONLY--you cannot renew a Certificate of Registration online! Also this system cannot be used for UV Tanning or Commercial Body Art registration renewals.
- FDU Revenue Worksheet if you need a replacement revenue worksheet document, it can be downloaded here
- FDA Food Facility Registration Information and Form contains the information a new food firm needs to register with FDA per FFD&C Act requirements
- Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury regulates the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the United States; this agency issues label approval documents for beverage products >6% ABV (alcohol-by-volume)
- Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control regulates the manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverages within the state of Louisiana
- Post-disaster food handling information a listing of documents from various public and private sources characterizing best practices for handling food products after a hurricane or other disaster event
- Color additive listing a listing of approved color additives for foods and the uses for which they are accepted by FDA
- Major food allergen information for FALCPA compliance a web version of the Food Facts document on major food allergens
- FDA Food Defense Planning Tool new software tool designed to help food facilities of all kinds develop food defense plans designed to prevent the possibility of intentional contamination of food products introduced into the supply chain
- Food Safety Plan Worksheets - Documents from the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance that may be used as templates for developing your firm's Food Safety Plan as required by Subpart C of Section 117 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
- SSOP/HACCP record document templates useful record-keeping templates for those designing HACCP plans
- Seafood HACCP guidance/training information
- FDA Drug Registration Information and Form contains the information a new drug firm needs to register with FDA per FFD&C Act requirements
- Louisiana State Board of Wholesale Drug Distributors regulates the distribution of legend drugs and devices at wholesale in Louisiana
- Louisiana State Board of Pharmacy regulates the operation of retail pharmacies and the licensing of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other allied professions in Louisiana
- FDA Food Labelling Guidance Document contains a substantial quantity of useful information on basic label requirements
- GS1 US website for the firm formerly known as the Uniform Code Council--this is the entity responsible for issuing Universal Product Codes
- Louisiana Secretary of State Commercial Divison all companies doing business in Louisiana are required to register with the Secretary of State
- Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Agricultural Marketing Divison administers the "Certified Cajun" and "Certified Product of Louisiana" logo programs
- The Ins and Outs of Food Labeling Part 1 a PowerPoint training presentation on food labels created by North Dakota State University
- The Ins and Outs of Food Labeling Part 2 a PowerPoint training presentation on food labels created by North Dakota State University
- Food Product Labeling Basics Fact Sheet a brief guide to food labels from Okalahoma State University
- Label Layout Guide label layout guidance from Food Consulting Company
- FDA Pet Food Facility Registration see this link for information on FDA's federal regulation of these products.
- LDAF Office of Agricultural Marketing and Chemistry reviews and approves new animal and pet food formulations.
For more information, contact your regional inspector or choose one of the program areas below:
Acidified/Low-Acid Canned Foods | Bottled Water | Commercial Body Art | Cosmetics | DrugsExport Certificates | Food Processing Plans and Recall Plans | Food ManufacturingFood Storage and Distribution | Ice-Vending Units and Ice Plants | Product Registration | UV TanningWater-Vending Units and Water Stores