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.

Please note that for assistance with retail operations like restaurants and grocery stores, you must contact your local parish health unit sanitarian.

cane trucks in Lafourche — Trucks unloading raw sugarcane for processing at a Louisiana sugar mill.

Looking for more information? Select a topic below:

Food	Drugs	Cosmetics	Product Registration	Commercial Body Art
UV Tanning	Export Certificates	Find Your Inspector	Other Useful Links	Links for Employees

or choose one of our HOT topics:
	Food Processing/Recall Plans

	LACF/Acidified Foods Training Courses	(link requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

	Current Food/Drug/Cosmetic Product Recalls	Note that there is a new active recall as of 2/7/2017. Click the link for additional information.

	Special Note About Alcohol Product Registrations

Fast Facts

Food and Drug Unit inspectors conduct over 2,446 inspections of food, drug, cosmetic, UV tanning, and commercial body art facilities in FY 2016.
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.