current government issues

Current Government Issues

Kathryn McConnell , a USINFO staff writer , reports that by November federal regulations on food products entering the US will be presented to President Bush (McConnell , 2007

The first in a series of articles on food safety regulation , McConnell consulted four authorities that figure in the subject- the government via the Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) and the Department of Agriculture 's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS , the food industry 's biggest trade player , Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA and Costco , the retail giant (McConnell , 2007 . The FSIS takes

charge of proper labeling of meat and poultry imports (2007

Among the recommendations are developing tools that improve risk identification , an IT- driven supervision , and enhanced monitoring and evaluation (McConnell , 2007 . The FDA , for instance , is bent on whittling down time spent in identifying and controlling food-borne illnesses (2007 . GMA , on the other hand , aims to strengthen the industry 's relationship with the government , in hopes that both parties will benefit from each other (2007 . GMA 's proposition is for U .S . food importers to take on a quality assurance program that matches up the requirements of FDA (2007 . For their part , Costco stated that they have taken up safety preventive measures following consumer expectations (2007

The article shows both strong and weak points . First , the strong points

Taking differential opinions from involved parties triangulate the story . The government agencies (the regulatory board , the manufacturer (seller ) and the retail chain (buyer ) complete the arc of the food safety issue . It is important to a well- represented story , for all facts to straighten out but it is more important for the source to be knowledgeable

Expertise of sources . The writer did not just gather information from any rank and employees per agency . Instead , she sought information from those directly involved with the issue- the assistant commissioner for food protection of FDA , the president of GMA , the FSIS administrator , and the vice-president of food safety and quality of Costco . It is important to have qualified and competent sources , those that can verify the information that they are going to share

Presentation of story- general to specific . The article was presented from a general point of view (proposing to regulate food safety imports and the involved players ) down to specifics (recommended actions . It followed the inverted triangle way of telling a story , which is good especially this having a positive tone- regulating food safety

On the downside , the article has one

Insufficient background . The article started with a sentence summarizing what the story is about . Then it proceeded detailing it . It would have been better if it spent a few sentences on the risk of unsafe food products in the US first , providing figures on the rising numbers By doing so , the reader would immediately make a connection on the escalating unsafe food imports and the need of creating stricter food import regulations

The article is a first in a series . Perhaps , information would be presented in more details in the...