title: Reinventing the programmatic and legal basis of food safety: the Wyoming experience.
abstract: On March 13, 2000, the governor of Wyoming signed into law a comprehensive farm-to-table food safety statute. The new law collected all food safety requirements into a single statute and consolidated food inspection activities in the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. A sweeping reform of state food safety programs eliminated the cumbersome patchwork of laws that legislators had been amending for a century. To accomplish this formidable task, Governor Jim Geringer had authorized the formation of the Wyoming Food Safety Task Force in 1997. The task force comprised local, state, and federal government agencies; legislators; the University of Wyoming; and segments of private industry. Using a strategic-planning process to build consensus, the task force developed a new system that was unanimously supported. This unified approach contributed to the success of the legislative effort.
authors.affiliation: National Park Service/Intermountain Region, 12795 W. Alameda Pkwy., Lakewood, CO 80228, USA. charles_higgins@nps.gov
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019649:Food Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D011050:Policy Making; D011634:Public Health; D011640:Public Policy; D014959:Wyoming