With Barack Obama having been elected the next president of the United States on November 4, Americans are now expecting to see him keep his promise of bringing the change that the nation needs.

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is said to begin to both monitor more closely and to instate stricter regulations, as well, where imports are concerned, in order to prevent incidents similar to the recent salmonella outbreak from occurring in the future.

Moreover, since president-elect Obama, who is a former smoker trying to break the habit with the help of nicotine gum, is a sponsor of a legislation that aims to enable the FDA to only control (but not to ban) tobacco products, rumor has it that new institutions would be given the power to ban cigarettes and other products of the like.

Under former U.S. president George W. Bush’s administration, the FDA has come into much criticism, many claiming that it had become too lenient with regards to food and drugs safety measures, giving rise to consumer protection issues.

The first step that Obama is expected to take is appointing a new commissioner for the Administration. For the time being, there are about six people whose names have come up during talks about a new FDA leader, including Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Dr. Steven Nissen, former director of the FDA's women's health office Susan Wood and Baltimore's health chief Dr. Joshua Sharfstein.

Furthermore, more inspections of imported food are to be performed by the FDA under Obama’s administration, along with ones concerning foreign drug manufacturing plants, which have been long neglected the time Bush was at the helm of the nation.

In addition, a tracing system for fresh produce is part of Obama’s plan for the FDA, in order to tighten the regulations regarding consumer protection.

As for the tobacco legislation the president-elect has sponsored, the proposal entails that the FDA would be able to request that nicotine products be rendered less addictive and toxic, but not to put a ban on tobacco or nicotine.