If you know any good foodies or druggies, today is their lucky day.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday that it has plans to hire more than 1,300 people.

The FDA needs to fill openings for medical officers, consumer safety officers, chemists, nurse consultants, biologists, microbiologists, health/regulatory/general health scientists, mathematical statisticians, epidemiologists, pharmacologists, pharmacists, and veterinary medical officers.

Most of the jobs are located in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, where the FDA oversees human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, food, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA needs to protect the country in numerous areas, and as such, also will be expanding at more than 179 resident posts and the newly created FDA offices overseas.

(Of course, protect can be interpreted many ways.)

As part of this multi-year hiring initiative, the FDA hopes to fill 600 new positions and hire about 700 others to fill older positions. The FDA says this is nearly triple the number of people hired from 2005 to 2007.

While it’s always a challenge to find quality candidates with science and medical backgrounds, the FDA is banking on a couple of things to get the job done.

First, the Office of Personnel Management has granted Direct-Hire Authority to the FDA, an operating division of the Department of Health and Human Services. Direct-Hire Authority can expedite the hiring of qualified candidates during “critical” times and have them on the job within three weeks.

Second, the FDA will be participating in and holding job fairs throughout the country.