Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach wants to have "boots on the ground" in nations like India and China and regions like Central and South America and the Middle East to improve the quality of the food and medicines increasingly flowing to the United States. As more products have been produced abroad for sale in America, the F.D.A. has been less able to ensure their safety. The agency inspects less than 1% of imported foods. The F.D.A. already sends inspectors to dozens of countries each year to inspect pharmaceutical plants and clinical trial sites. …

A new spot from the White House drug office that will debut during the Super Bowl features a drug dealer complaining that his business is down because teens are getting high from abusing drugs in the medicine cabinet. It's part of a 12-week multimedia campaign that -- for the first time -- switches the focus from teens to their parents, and delivers a loud warning that it's no longer just illegal drugs that put teens at risk. Spending on the drug ad program has been declining. Only $60 million was authorized by Congress this year, less than half of …

Just in time for the national drinking holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday, the main ingredients of beer--hops and barley-are in increasingly short supply. Prices for raw materials have leaped--by as much as 500% in the case of hops. "We were told about a week ago we wouldn't be able to buy hops again this year unless we were on a waiting list, and there [were] 100 brewers ahead of us," says Peter Martin, of Brown's Brewing Co. in Troy, N.Y. Microbrewers say the average cost of a six-pack of domestic beer would likely rise about a dollar by …

Beauty companies' traditional marketing strategies are being forced to adapt to the scores of blogs that are largely dedicated to opinions and reviews of beauty products. Unlike magazine writers, whose lead times are measured in weeks and months, bloggers may review a product within hours of receiving it, immediately followed by reader feedback. And "blogs are more interactive," says Procter & Gamble's Esi Eggleston Bracey, vp and GM of global P&G cosmetics, overseeing the Cover Girl and Max Factor brands. "You get the benefit of dialogue rather than one-way communication." The honest voices and conversational tones of …

Nancy Hill, a former executive at Lowe Worldwide and BBDO, will be named the next president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, according to an executive familiar with the situation, pending the approval of the 4A's board. The appointment follows a long search for a successor to O. Burtch Drake, who has run the 91-year-old organization since 1994. If approved, Hill will take on an important symbolic role at a challenging time for the ad business. Many of the 4A's member agencies born during the relatively straightforward TV-dominated era are now trying to make themselves over for …

L'Oréal yesterday proposed to pay $1.68 billion for YSL Beauté Holding, which is part of the PPR subsidiary Gucci Group. L'Oréal will obtain an exclusive, long-term worldwide license for the use of the YSL and Boucheron brands in the fragrance and cosmetics categories. It will also take over YSL Beauté's licenses for the Stella McCartney, Oscar de la Renta and Ermenegildo Zegna brands. PPR will continue to own the Yves Saint Laurent, Boucheron and Stella McCartney brands. The beauty license of Gucci Group brand Alexander McQueen will not be part of the transaction. YSL Beauté's brands would join L'Oréal's …

A federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles claims that Dannon's own studies don't support its claims that its Activia, Activia Light and DanActive yogurts have been "clinically" and "scientifically" "proven" to have health benefits that other yogurts don't. The suit seeks class-action status and demands that Dannon give refunds to everyone in the U.S. who purchased the products--an amount that a lawyer says could be as much as $300 million. Trish Wiener, who owns a catering company, filed the suit. She claims that the only effect the Dannon brands had on her "was that it tasted poorly." Dannon is …