Food Safety and Security: Discussion 2

The OIE or World Organization for Animal Health facilitates trade of animals and animal products without impacting trade as much. It ensures they are clean and food is safe and sanitary. They set international standards, guidelines and recommendations as necessary to set standards for animal health and zoonoses. It regularly updates to ensure information is distributed and animal health is improved all over the world. The FAO or Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is working to stop hunger. Through modernizing and updating they work to improve agriculture, fisheries and forestry so that food is healthier and nutritious as well as safe and secure. PAHO is the Pan American Health Organization and it is an international public health agency that helps improve health and the quality of life in American Countries. This Inter-American system also services as the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office in America. PAHO and WHO are both United Nations System Members. WTO is the World Trade Organization which is to handle trade rules between nations and ensure that trade is flow, predicable and as free as possible.

Food Safety Regulatory Agencies in the United States handle ensuring a variety of subjects. They ensure the food is safe, secure and accurately represented. These organizations work with members of the United States food safety regulatory agencies by sharing information on what should be done to ensure the safety of food. The food regulatory agencies may keep an eye on the food as well, but additionally, they help outline additional rules, regulations and laws. The USDA helps ensure food sources are protected from pests and disease. Food and Nutrition services help outline and distribute food through assistance programs. Some agencies oversee the safe preparation of food as well as handling. Each organization helps keep track of food distribution and may share information with each other to ensure safety. They may forge partnerships for financial or educational endeavors.

It is a lot of energy and work to oversee the care of animals and proper distribution of food. There are a variety of nuances as well as a variety of types of food. Organizations share information and additionally they are double checked by some of the other organization. Some organizations may be better equipped to run certain tests, surveys and more. They may have different specialists and can share information with each other. So many organizations are necessary to cover the amount of area and situations. They are needed because the world is a big place and their influence may not spread, so they partner with other organizations. A larger pool of contacts helps build a stronger information network. In contrast, problems that may occur due to there being so many organizations involved may be as simple to slow information being passed, to there being a lot of red tape. There may be some people who are more trustworthy and reliable than others. Some work may take longer than others. Sometimes tests may take longer than expected. Information may be disputed, have to be tested and looked into or researched.