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The Consumer Health Services Section of the Wyoming Department of
Agriculture is charged with overseeing the safety of the states food
supply. The section also has some Environmental Health duties such
as swimming pool inspection, assisting with drinking water safety,
assisting communities with nuisance complaints, etc. The section is
composed of 20 field staff, two supervisors, one program manager,
one assistant program manager, and one support staff position. The
field staff have degrees in Animal Science, Food Science and
Environmental Health.
CHS conducts food safety education and inspectional activities in
all
areas of the state not covered by local departments of health. There
are six local health departments in Wyoming (the counties of
Laramie, Natrona, Teton, Sweetwater, and Sublette, and the city of
Laramie). CHS maintains an "equal to" USDA meats safety program and
conducts all meat slaughter and processing inspection, even where
local departments exist. CHS also maintains a state-wide dairy
program and participates in enforcing the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance
as a signatory to the Interstate Milk Shippers Conference.
What does Consumer Health Services (CHS) do?
- Reduces the
occurrences of food safety hazards.
- Reduces the occurrences of
hazards to health & safety that are created by interaction of the
public.
CHS also provides educational trainings for industry and
consumers by offering:
- Hand washing activities in schools
- In-house
health trainings in establishments
- Serving Safe Food courses
- HACCP
(Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) trainings
- Going for the
Gold Food Safety classes
Partners
Partnerships are key to food
safety & public health programs today. CHS partners with the
Wyoming Food Safety Coalition comprised of individuals working for a
variety of agencies and organizations dedicated to food safety in
Wyoming. The WFSC members provide educational training to industry,
food workers and consumers.
CHS has also reached a solid
cooperative partnership with the state health department in the
investigation of foodborne illness. The state epidemiologist, the
manager of CHS and other public health officials meet every week to
discuss infectious disease reports. The state health reps, nurses
and CHS inspectors work together to conduct the investigations. It
is a true team effort and communication is complete and positive.
CHS has recently established a solid partnership with the Wyoming
Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. Together with the WY Dept of Health, DEQ and
EPA, we are striving to prevent waterborne disease outbreaks in the
state.
CHS promotes HACCP and Blue Ribbon Program
HACCP (Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point) system allows food service managers
to identify hazards within their operation and monitor critical
control points to ensure food has remained safe. Food industry
management that develops a written HACCP plan, monitors critical
control points, establish corrective actions and record keeping
system, receives our Blue Ribbon Award. With HACCP, managers take
the responsibility to control the safety of the items produced for
consumption.
We are determined to do everything we can, to see
that Wyoming's food is the safest in the world!
To voice a concern or complaint about WDA programs, please call the WDA
hotline at 888-413-0114.
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