Final answer:
The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is responsible for setting standards for medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements, while the FDA enforces these standards to protect public health. The FDA's strict regulation ensures consumer safety but may delay access to new treatments.
Step-by-step explanation:
The organization that establishes standards for the identity, strength, quality, and purity of medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements is the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a crucial role in regulating and supervising the safety of such products, it is the USP that sets the standards that manufacturers must comply with to ensure that these substances are safe and effective for public use. The FDA, on the other hand, enforces these standards and oversees the regulation and supervision of a wide range of products to protect public health.
Pharmaceutical companies, under FDA regulation, often undergo rigorous and lengthy testing processes for their drugs to ensure safety and efficacy, sometimes taking years before a drug can enter the market. The main beneficiaries of this system are the consumers who are protected from the risks of unsafe medications. The losers, often overlooked, are those who experience delays in accessing potentially life-saving treatments due to the lengthy approval process.