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May 11, 2006
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Laura A. Bischoff

COLUMBUS -- The debate about milk unpasteurized, straight from the cow reached state lawmakers Wednesday.

A bill pending in the House Agriculture Committee would allow licensed farmers to sell raw milk directly to consumers.

Bill advocates packed a Statehouse hearing room and sang the praises of raw milk.

Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a national group in favor of raw milk, was quoted as saying, "Raw milk is actually the safest food in the food supply. The promise that pasteurization can protect us against pathogens is not true."

The story notes that the Federal Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Medical Association and other organizations recommend against drinking raw milk.

Valente Alvarez, Ohio State University associate professor of dairy processing and technology, was cited as saying that extensive scientific studies support the benefits of pasteurization and far outweigh those that tout the benefits of raw milk.

Paul Schmitmeyer, a Darke County dairy farmer, was quoted as saying, "Their science is wrong science."

Columbus attorney Gary Cox, who represents Schmitmeyer and other farmers with herd-sharing agreements, was cited as saying the state Department of Agriculture is selectively targeting his clients for using a loophole in the law against selling raw milk.

Hearings will continue next week on the bill. State Rep. Arlene Setzer, R-Vandalia, is the bill sponsor.

Raw milk sales are permitted in 27 states, where consumers pay between $6 and $17 per gallon.

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April 5, 2006
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A bill that would have allowed raw, unpasteurized milk sales in Tennessee was bottled up in a House committee on Tuesday.

Opponents were concerned that without pasteurization, raw milk has a potential to be laced with listeria, E. coli or salmonella, but bill sponsor Rep. Glen Casada said consumers run the risk of contracting illnesses from any food.

"That's just the nature of food," the College Grove Republican said. "I contend it's a consumers right to buy food they think is healthy for them and their family."

Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella can result in gastrointestinal illness and, in the worst cases, kidney failure or death.

The House Agriculture Committee defeated the bill 7-5 after hearing objections from Department of Agriculture general counsel Patricia Clark and state epidemiologist Dr. Allen Craig.

"Other states that allow raw milk sales have had problems," Clark said following the committee meeting. "An unknowing population could make very bad choices."

The measure would require warning labels that the raw milk can contain disease-causing microorganisms. The warning label would have also prevented raw milk producers from being liable for any disease outbreaks, Clark said.

Another provision of the bill would have forbade state officials from alerting the public to any farm suspected of causing a regional outbreak without proof from multiple laboratory tests and other procedures. Clark called the provision an "unusual procedure."

Interest in raw milk has been on the rise nationwide, part of a growing natural foods movement. Supporters of raw milk sales say pasteurization's scalding heat destroys the taste and nutrients, but opponents say there's no scientific proof of benefits from drinking raw milk.

"It's just interesting that we allow unhealthy habits like smoking, but we don't allow for the sales of raw milk, which is healthy," Casada said.

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April 2, 2006
Knoxnews News Sentinel (TN)
The Associated Press
Erik Schelzig

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - A proposal to allow raw milk sales in Tennessee could put dairy consumers at risk, opponents of a measure moving through the Legislature said Friday.

Supporters say pasteurization's scalding heat destroys the taste and nutrients. But Bill Mason, executive director of consumer watchdog group Tennessee Citizen Action, calls those claims "anecdotal."

"There's just no scientific connection between drinking raw milk and any benefits," said Mason.

Yet interest in raw, unpasteurized milk has been on the rise nationwide, part of a growing natural foods movement. And similar measures have been approved in more than 20 other states, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Glen Casada.

The Franklin Republican's bill would require producers to take a state-approved raw milk safety course. The raw milk also would have to be collected in a sanitary manner, filtered and chilled to below 40 degrees within an hour.

The measure would require warning labels that the raw milk can contain disease-causing microorganisms.

Mason responded that a warning label isn't good enough to keep consumers from drinking milk potentially laced with Listeria, E. coli or Salmonella.

"There are health problems associated with unpasteurized milk; that's why we've had laws about it for the last half-century," he said.

Casada said the bill would be "buyer beware" for consumers of raw milk.

"You're going to know it's unpasteurized," he said. "Like all foods, you have the chance to get sick."

Casada also has written a provision into the bill to prohibit the state from suing farmers who are found to have sold tainted milk.

Citizen Action also takes issue with a provision that would exempt farmers producing less than 100 gallons of milk a year from inspections and other regulations.

"That can certainly be manipulated and certainly isn't in the best interest of public health," Mason said.

The measure would also forbid state officials from discussing with the public any farm suspected of causing a regional outbreak.

Casada said that aspect of the bill is to prevent unproven allegations from being spread in the media. Once two independent labs "incontrovertibly" link a farm to the outbreak, the farm could be identified.

"If it's confirmed, we want the public to know which farmer it was," he said.

The agriculture committees of both the House and Senate are scheduled to hear the bill Tuesday.

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