Protecting America's Health

Look at it this way: on one side there's a whole world of corporate giants and corner stores wanting to sell you things to put into your body. On the other side, there's your health. An in between stand the test tubes and determination of the FDA.

The federal Food and Drug Administratin was created almost a century ago to bring some order and consumer protection to a universe of quack drugs, rancid food and fly-by-night pharmacies. It's been savaged by big drug companies, mauled by would-be deregulators and dressed down for being slow and bureaucratic.

Now it's the funnel through which a new world of genetically modified foods, supplements and drugs are pushing.

This hour, On Point: the inside story of the FDA, and almost everything that goes into your body.

Guests:

Philip J. Hilts, author of "Protecting America's Health: The FDA, Business, and One Hundred Years of Regulation," and frequent contributor to the Washington Post and the New York Times.