California Department of Food and Agriculture - Divisions

Divisions

The Department of Food and Agriculture is internally divided into seven administration divisions, carrying out state food safety and regulation policy:

The Animal Health and Food Safety Services (AHFSS) provides services to protect California's poultry and livestock, to ensure safety of food from animal origin, to protect public health, and to protect livestock owners against losses due to theft and of animals or straying.

The Division of Fairs & Expositions (F&E) provides fiscal and policy oversight of the network of California's 78 fairs and manages the use of available funding and other services.

The Inspection Services Division (IS) states their mission is to "provide professional services that support and contribute to a safe, abundant, quality food supply; environmentally sound agricultural practices; and an equitable marketplace for California agriculture," and states:

We fulfill this mission by providing the following services: Inspect fruits, vegetables and nuts to ensure maturity, grade, size, weight, packaging and labeling meet the consumers' quality expectations. Conduct chemical analysis in support of food and environmental safety. Perform verification audits to ensure good handling and agricultural practices are utilized to contribute to a safe food supply. Ensure fertilizer, animal feed, and livestock drugs are safe and effective, and meet the quality and quantity guaranteed by the manufacturer. This helps prevent toxins and contaminants from entering the food chain. Monitor the market place to provide California consumers with eggs that are wholesome, properly labeled, refrigerated, and of established quality while maintaining fair and equitable marketing standards in the California egg industry.

IS's California Organic Program is responsible for enforcing the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and the California Organic Products Act of 2003; however, the California Department of Public Health enforces laws relating to products marketed as "organic". The California Organic Program is fully funded by industry registration fees.

The Division of Marketing Services (MKT) conducts research and information gathering, disburses marketing and economic information, assurs producers are paid for their products, assists the dairy industry in maintaining stable marketing conditions, and provides mediation to resolve problems amongst producers and handlers.

The Division of Measurement Standards (DMS) works with county sealers of weights and measures to verify the quantity of packaged and bulk commodities, to ensure the accuracy of commercial measuring and weighing devices, and to enforce the quality, labeling, and advertising standards for most petroleum products.

The Division of Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services (PHPPS) conducts pest prevention and management programs that effectively protects California’s horticulture, agriculture, natural resources, and urban environments from invasive or dangerous plant pests.