Food Safety & Consumer Services Division

Kirk Robinson, Assistant Director
Julie Carlson, Division Coordinator
(360) 902-1880

The Food Safety & Consumer Services Division serves the needs of the agricultural community, consumers and stakeholders through the state of Washington by delivering excellent customer service at every level of the division while providing each team member of our programs with the tools and training necessary to be successful.

Programs & Services

• Office of Compliance & Outreach (OCO)
• Food Assistance
• Food Safety
• Microbiology Laboratory
• Organic Food Certification
• Rapid Response Program

Reports

• 2012 Annual Report [PDF 5.88 MB]

Division Meeting Presentations

• 2012 Food Safety & Consumer Services Division Meeting Presentations

Division Meeting Presentations

2012 Food Safety & Consumer Services Division Meeting

• Food Safety Program (PDF 396 KB)
• Rapid Response Program (PDF 143 KB)
• Dairy Nutrient Management Program (PDF 297 KB)
• You First - Safety for Regular People (PDF 1.16 MB)

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Office of Compliance & Outreach

Administrator: Claudia Coles (360) 902-1905

The Office of Compliance and Outreach (OCO) provides education, outreach and fair compliance response to support production of quality agricultural products and to maximize the safety and security of Washington's food system. To facilitate productive and efficient interactions between WSDA and the agriculture industry, OCO works collaboratively within the Food Safety and Consumer Services Division and across WSDA to promote and enhance cohesive operations and improve service delivery.

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Animal Feed

Program Manager:

The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) regulates commercial animal feed including livestock feed, poultry feed, fish feed and pet food at the state level. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates animal feed at the federal level.

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Food Assistance

Program Manager: Kim Eads (360) 725-5651

The Washington State Department of Agriculture's (WSDA) Food Assistance Programs assist local organizations and tribes in providing emergency food to low income and vulnerable individuals throughout Washington State. Our goals are to alleviate hunger and increase the amount of nutritious foods distributed through emergency food programs while supporting the agricultural community.

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Food Safety

Program Manager: Lucy Severs (360) 902-1876

The Food Safety Program is responsible for the licensing and inspection of food processing facilities, food warehouses and dairy farm operations throughout our state. The program also works closely with the dairy industry to maintain the ability to ship milk and milk products out-of-state, as well as with FDA and the Department of Health in conducting investigations of facilities and collecting samples for testing.

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Microbiology Laboratory

Program Manager: Barbara Baker (360) 753-5061

The WSDA Microbiology Laboratory provides laboratory testing to protect the public's health by providing data on food borne pathogens to: regulatory agencies, our Federal partners, and the agricultural community. This data allows the interstate shipment of dairy products and provides information for food borne pathogen surveillance.

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Organic Food Certification

Program Manager: Brenda Book (360) 902-1805

The WSDA Organic Food Program protects consumers and supports the organic food industry by ensuring the integrity of organic food products through establishing organic standards and certifying organic producers, processors, and handlers. The program provides technical information about organic food production and assists in the development of markets for the organic food industry. Establishes organic standards, certifies organic food producers, processors and handlers; provides technical and market information for industry.

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Rapid Response Program

Program Manager: Steve Fuller (360) 902-1819

The Rapid Response Program develops and manages the Food and Feed Emergency Rapid Response Team (RRT). The RRT is a joint effort by WSDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Seattle District Office (SEA-DO) to improve the efficiency of food emergency response and reduce the time to a meaningful intervention that protects public health.

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