Page 90 - Spring2008

SOUTH CAROLINA: The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) recently approved
the sale of raw milk at retail establishments. DHEC is requiring that raw milk sold in retail stores have a warning label
and that it be displayed in a location separate from pasteurized milk. Prior to the agency’s policy change, raw milk
sales had been mainly limited to on the farm.

VERMONT: A bill (H.616) to liberalize the sale of raw milk is before the House Agriculture Committee. H.616, “The
Farm Fresh Milk Restoration Act of 2008,” would permit farmers who have been certified by a local certification com-
mittee to sell unlimited quantities of raw milk on the farm and through delivery. Certified farmers would also have the
right to advertise. Under current law, farmers can sell no more than 25 quarts of raw milk a day on the farm and are
not permitted to advertise. H.616 has over sixty sponsors. Rural Vermont, an organization dedicated to supporting the
state’s family farms, has been the driving force behind the bill.

FEDERAL: On November 5, 2007, Congressman Ron Paul introduced HR4077, a bill to “authorize the interstate traffic
of unpasteurized milk and milk products in final package form for human consumption when the milk or milk product
originates in a State that allows the sale of unpasteurized milk and milk products in final package form and is destined
for another State that allows the sale of unpasteurized milk and milk products in final package form.” The purpose of
the bill is to initiate the elimination of the federal regulation (21 CFR 1240.61) that prohibits raw milk and raw milk
products for human consumption in interstate commerce. This regulation has hindered the ability of raw milk dairies
to market their products; and it has made it more difficult for consumers to find sources of raw milk. As the FDA’s
warnings increasingly fall on deaf ears, the regulation looks more vulnerable to a challenge. Getting rid of it would
remove a major obstacle to prosperity for small dairy farms. HR4077 has been referred to the House Committee on
Energy and Commerce.

CALIFORNIA UPDATE

The efforts of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to eliminate the retail sale of raw milk con-
tinue. As covered in the Winter 2007 issue of Wise Traditions, the California legislature passed a law (AB1735) last year
requiring that retail raw milk have a coliform level of 10 or less in the final container. The state’s two dairies licensed to sell
raw milk, Organic Pastures and Claravale, determined that they would try to overturn the law in both the legislature and
in the courts. In late December the dairies filed a suit against CDFA in San Benito Superior Court asking that the agency
be permanently enjoined from enforcing the coliform standard. The case is being handled by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal
Defense Fund. No court date had been scheduled as of the time of this writing.
On the legislative front, an intense lobbying campaign effort was waged by raw milk supporters with thousands of
people contacting CDFA, the governor’s office and the legislature. Initially, the California Assembly’s Agriculture Committee
refused to hold hearings on the coliform standard but the opposition to the standard became so great that the committee
relented. On January 16 the committee held a hearing on the standard before a packed house of over 500 people. Led by
committee chair Nicole Parra, the Agriculture Committee voted unanimously to support compromise legislation (AB1604,
which would call for a six-month stay on any coliform testing with the possibility that a new coliform standard of 50 (taken
at the bulk tank instead of the final container) would go into effect in the summer.
AB1604 lasted less than two weeks. Shortly after the hearing, the bill was assigned to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, a questionable move since no expenditure of money would be necessary to revise the coliform standard.
The bill never actually made it to Appropriations because Rep. Parra withdrew it. In place of AB1604, a “blue ribbon”
committee is to meet later in the year to study raw milk. For now, it appears that CDFA’s government-by-stealth tactics (it
never notified either licensed dairy about AB1735 before the bill became law) have paid off for the agency again.
AB1735 went into effect on January 1, 2008. If three out of five consecutive coliform tests are over ten for either dairy,
its sales will be suspended. As of this writing, Organic Pastures milk had been tested three times with a coliform count
over ten twice. If either of the next two tests is over ten, Organic Pastures intends to file a lawsuit asking for a temporary
restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting CDFA from suspending sales at the dairy.
Please consider making a donation to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund to help overturn a law that was
instituted not to protect the public health but to end the retail sale of raw milk in California.

90 Wise Traditions SPRING 2008