Free «Food Safety and Grading System» Essay

Summary [1]

The paper talks about the regulatory bodies in the United States that oversee that the food supply in the United States is free from the hazards related to food; hazards which impacts the overall health of the consumers. It gives a brief about the regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that ensure the safety of food in the United States. These standards have made the United States food supply the safest in the world.

However, there have been marked discrepancies over the years in conferring these norms over food supply (food imported and produced in house), which have raised questions about the safety of food in the United States. This paper studies about the role of these agencies, their internal structures and how the changes should be implemented within these agencies to prevent any kind of loopholes that impacts the food safety norms for the well being of the citizens of United States.

Analysis

It is important to have regulation in food safety. The establishment of such bodies in a democratic setup is essential for ensuring that the health standards of its citizens are maintained. The role of the opposition is to bring out healthy criticism in the regulations and legislations of the ruling party. This paper has discussed about the role of the opposition in this regard. Setting up rules and regulations for ensuring food safety is important. It is equally important, however, to see that the implementation is overseen as well. The paper presents a blueprint of the regulatory bodies and their norms to their readers and more importantly it brings about the loopholes that must be filled.

Summary [2]

This paper briefs the reader about the point that despite the presence of federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administrations and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are state and local level agencies too which inspect the food safety levels.

The increase of incidents of food adulteration for commercial gains needs is on the rise. Imported food too is showing signs of deterioration which leads to a decline in the health and safety standards of the citizens. In order to ensure that fresh produce, imported food is safe to be consumed there has to be reforms which ensure that necessary steps are taken to prevent food adulteration, legal procedures are laid down to penalize all those who engage in adulteration or do not ensure vital steps for food safety. The paper primarily talks about how the agencies must expanse their presence In order to prevent the spread of food borne diseases.

Analysis

The talk about strengthening the local and state level agencies that ensure closer monitoring over people who are part of the food supply trade is the most prominent part of the paper. This is important since the reach of the federal based agencies is limited. The FDA and USDA cannot reach all the restaurants or points where food is consumed. They can lay down regulations but it is difficult for them to implement them at all levels. Therefore, setting up of local agencies is a very important step to ensure better safety watch. It is important that such local agencies are encouraged and funded to ensure that food safety is enhanced. Currently there are about over 3000 public health agencies that are currently involved in health safety in the United States. This, according to the paper must be increased and the existing is encouraged and properly monitored for prevention of the creeping in of corruption.

Summary [3]

This paper talks about the supply of beef in the United States. It has been mentioned that beef is consumed by children, adults and the elderly. It falls under the general liking and fulfills the cafeteria menu of almost all the citizens in the United States. Beef is supplied under the supervision of the federal agencies and also served by the fast food restaurants; they ensure their own safety standards.

The beef supplied under the government supervision is supplied by the Agricultural Marketing Services of the United States. This agency ensures that the beef is purchased only from places which exceed the minimum standards required. This is done since the beef is served to all strata’s of society and primarily to the people who are most vulnerable to food borne illnesses.

The article talks about the realization of the federal agencies that their standards are in reality not greater than those exceeding the standards set by the private restaurants and other private players. The article also gives a description about the diseases associated with below standard beef.

Analysis

This article brings to the forefront that it is not always necessary that the regulations established by the federal agencies for food safety are better than those set by the private players. This may be due to the fact that there is greater accountability within the private sector as they are liable to face more stringent legal consequences if found guilty of poor safety standards. It also talks about how sensitive the issue of safety is with respect to the consumption of beef. The deadly diseases associated with unsafe beef points to the importance of educating the consumers about their taking care of consuming beef which meets safety requirements.

Summary [4]

This article is a description about the United States Department of Agriculture.  The responsibility of this body is to ensure food safety and associated regulations with agriculture. It provides the most invaluable information in the use of technology for enriching farm produce. It also tries to enlarge the market by its marketing efforts. Its primary objective is to ensure food safety and ensuring a proper grading of the food being supplied to the consumers. This is being compared to the grading done in school reports. Every food article is graded with an A or B for quality above standard and a D or E for below standard. There is no C allotted.

The article also gives a description about the various agencies that come under the purview of USDA. The article describes the USDA as being segregated into seven areas. The role of each agency in each area is to ensure quality and safety.

The grading systems set by USDA are based on attributes such as texture, firmness and color. The number of grades associated with a particular food, be it meat, poultry, sea food etc depends on the food itself.

Analysis

It is important to understand the internal organization of a regulatory body which standardizes the safety of food for the general public. Knowledge of regulatory body is essential in order to get a deep understanding of the functioning of a regulatory body. This knowledge will help us to know what the loopholes are in the system and how they can be rectified. It is a description which helps us to understand the grading system of various kinds of food as well. This is important to understand how grading is done on various kinds of foods.

Conclusion

It is important to regulate and standardize food safety norms. Food borne diseases affect public health. Monitoring of imported food and food produced in one’s own country must be analyzed for its safety and impact on health. This can be done by the creation of various regulatory bodies. There can be regulation done at the federal level such as that done in the United States by Food and Drugs Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture.

There is also a need to have local and state level bodies for ensuring food safety norms. This is important because the local agencies would be in closer proximities to the local food suppliers and it would be a mammoth task for the federal agencies to ensure the implementation of food safety standards in all the places.