Symposium: animal food safety and dairy regulations, now and in the future. Animal food safety and dairy regulations, now and in the future: from farm to fork, a state perspective.

The enforcement of dairy and food safety regulations has fallen most heavily on the states in the past, and this responsibility will no doubt continue, and even expand, in the future. States must be concerned not only about their own state laws but also about the impact of increasing federal regulations. The protection of sample integrity and chain of custody is an important function of a state regulatory program for food safety. Because of increasing demands imposed by new technology and food safety requirements, and because of very limited resources, states have difficulty maintaining adequate regulatory programs. The future challenge will be the ability of states to coordinate regulation, sample analysis, and enforcement between federal and state agencies. States must continue their roles of ensuring consumers that food is safe and wholesome while maintaining viable state food industries.