Page 97 - Spring2009

PROPOSED FEDERAL LEGISLATION: THE GOOD AND THE DISASTROUS

HR 778:
Nothing would do more to increase the availability of raw milk than to reduce the FDA’s power to regulate it.
Current proposed federal legislation would take away FDA’s biggest weapon, the interstate ban on raw milk for human
consumption.
On January 28 Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced HR 778, a bill “to authorize the interstate traffic of
unpasteurized milk and milk products that are packaged for direct human consumption.” Under the bill, the federal
government “may not take any action…that would prohibit, interfere with, regulate, or otherwise restrict the interstate
traffic of milk, or a milk product, that is unpasteurized and packaged for direct human consumption solely on the
basis that the milk or milk product is unpasteurized….” The bill defines “interstate traffic” as “the movement of any
conveyance or the transportation of persons or property…from a point of origin in any State or possession to a point
of destination in any other State or possession….”
Passage of the bill into law would repeal the federal regulation prohibiting raw milk and raw milk products for
human consumption in interstate commerce. That regulation (21 CFR 1240.61) provides, in part, that “no person shall
cause to be delivered into interstate commerce or shall sell, otherwise distribute, or hold for sale or other distribution
after shipment in interstate commerce any milk or milk product in final package form for direct human consumption
unless the product has been pasteurized….”
HR 778 has been assigned to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Co-sponsors are needed for the bill
to have a chance to progress. Those supporting the bill should contact members of the Committee as well as their
own Representative to encourage them to sign on as co-sponsors for the bill.
Passage of HR 778 would help resolve the disconnect between the laws on the consumption of raw milk—which is
legal in every state—and the laws on the sale of raw milk which is illegal in about half the states. The bill would enable
those living in states where the sale of raw milk is illegal and those living in states where the sale is legal but difficult
to obtain to be able to exercise their legal right to consume raw milk. As Congressman Paul stated in introducing the
bill, “Americans have the right to consume these products without having the Federal Government second-guess their
judgment about what products best promote health. If there are legitimate concerns about the safety of unpasteurized
milk, those concerns should be addressed at the state and local level.” Unfortunately, FDA does not share this view
and has convinced other members of Congress to support legislation that would take away most of what is left of the
States’ power to independently regulate commerce, including the power to regulate the intrastate sale of raw milk.

HR 875:
On February 4 Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced HR 875, a bill “to establish the Food Safety Admin-
istration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne
illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving
security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.” The bill would divide FDA into the Federal
Drug and Device Administration and the Food Safety Administration (FSA). HR 875 gives the FSA extensive power to
regulate interstate and intrastate commerce.
The bill gives FSA the power to conduct regular unannounced inspections of farms even if the farm is engaged
solely in intrastate commerce. HR 875 requires FSA to conduct weekly unannounced inspections of farms producing
raw milk. Under the bill, raw milk producers—like all farmers engaged in commerce—will have to make their customer
lists available to FDA; and farmers will also be required to develop “a written food safety plan that describes the likely
hazards and preventive controls implemented to address those hazards.”
Aside from the burdensome and intrusive regulations HR 875 imposes on farmers, the greater threat the bill poses
to raw milk producers is that it gives FSA the statutory authority to ban the intrastate sale of raw milk. HR 875 orders
FSA to issue regulations designed to “limit the presence of contaminants in food prepared in a food establishment
[farms are “food establishments” under the bill] using the best reasonably available techniques and technologies….”
To FDA, the “best available technology” is pasteurization. The agency has long wanted a complete prohibition on the
sale of raw milk. With the passage of the bill, the agency would now have its chance to impose a total ban.
HR 875 has been assigned to both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee
on Agriculture. It needs to be stopped. We are working on an organized strategy to defeat this bill and will keep our
members posted.

SPRING 2009 Wise Traditions 95