However, it is entirely legal in Maryland to sell raw milk for pets, and it always has been. (Which may say something about what Maryland legislators think of our four-legged companions.) This year, the state Department of Agriculture, concerned about an increasing amount of raw milk pet food for sale, has made enforcement a priority, according to a spokeswoman, with inspectors making sure that the products are tested and properly labeled.
Morell claims that raw milk helps lead to a healthier life and, indirectly, an adolescence less traumatized by taunting: better teeth (liberated from the cage of orthodontics), better eyesight (no more glasses) and reduced allergies (begone, autumnal red nose and persistent sniffing). She says that raw milk rid her of her pollen allergies. She does have comely teeth.
Imbibers are asking for it: salmonella, listeria and other pathogens as ghastly as they sound. Pasteurized milk, which is heated to eliminate potentially harmful bacteria, became prevalent in the 20th century to make the breakfast table a far safer place.
Raw pet milk sales are now legal in Maryland, one of the most anti-raw milk states in the U.S. A grass-based dairy, P.A. Bowen Farmstead of Brandywine, has obtained approval1 to sell raw pet milk from the Maryland Department of Agriculture. P.A. Bowen Farmstead, owned and operated by Weston A. Price Foundation President and FTCLDF board member Sally Fallon Morell along with her husband Geoffrey, has begun selling raw milk at its on-farm store.
The sale of raw milk for human consumption has long been illegal in Maryland. In 2006, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (MDHMH) issued an emergency regulation banning herdshare contracts; a court challenge to the herdshare ban was unsuccessful. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the center of opposition to raw milk in this country, has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, and major offices in Rockville and College Park.
There have been numerous attempts over the years to pass legislation legalizing the sale or distribution of raw milk for human consumption but delegate Peter Hammen, the Chair of the Maryland House of Delegates Health and Government Operations Committee, has been able to stop all raw milk bills from getting out of his committee.
As far as is known, the Maryland Department of Agriculture had never approved the sale of raw pet milk before even though the Department has long had the legal authority to do so. Maryland now joins other states such as Florida, Georgia, Indiana and North Carolina in allowing the sale of raw milk for animal consumption.
Attorney in Sarasota, Florida, served as President of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund from 2008-2016. He has represented or assisted in the representation of dairy farmers facing possible state enforcement action in Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. He has helped farmers get started in the business of distributing raw milk and raw milk products in many other states.
Defending the rights and broadening the freedoms of family farms and protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient dense foods.Copyright  2007-2020  For more information: email: [email protected]  Phone: (703) 208-FARM (3276)  Falls Church, VAFarm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) The content of this website is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be nor should it be construed as either a legal opinion or as legal advice. Articles posted here do not necessarily represent the views or the position of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.
The feds have cut off a supply of raw milk for Maryland residents from Pennsylvania. The move outraged some Marylanders who are forced to go out of state for raw milk because Maryland is one of 25 states in which sales for human consumption are illegal.
Last month, a federal district judge banned an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania from selling raw milk to Marylanders who were members of a local food club. The ruling followed a two-year undercover investigation of the online club, Grassfed on the Hill, by the Food and Drug Administration.
An FDA agent used an alias to become a member of the club, and ordered large quantities of unpasteurized milk to test. After lab tests proved the milk was raw, a fact the farmer Dan Allgyer openly admitted, Judge Lawrence Stengel issued an order blocking milk sales to the club.
However, some dairy organizations, and the federal government, say raw milk poses a risk to public health. The International Dairy Foods Association supports the injunction issued against Allgyer, saying raw milk is too dangerous not to warrant federal oversight.
According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of illness caused by raw milk and raw milk products was 150 times greater than outbreaks linked to pasteurized milk.
Jennings sponsored another bill that would have allowed for the sale of raw milk under heavy government regulation. Both bills stalled in the legislature without action in 2009 and have not resurfaced.
This issue has brought together a strange coalition of civil libertarians, dairy farmers, organic food enthusiasts and environmental activists, who believe the government should not prohibit the interstate sale of raw milk.
Gloria Mercer, a Thurmont resident who, along with her husband Frank Mercer, was recently hospitalized for an illness related to drinking raw milk, said she will continue to prefer raw milk over pasteurized milk.
Public health authorities have long noted the significant risk of serious foodborne illness associated with raw milk.4 To protect against this risk, the vast majority of dairy products consumed in the U.S. today are pasteurized, a technique in which the milk is heated rapidly to a temperature high enough to kill most foodborne pathogens. Raw milk is not subject to this heating process and, therefore, is more likely to harbor harmful pathogens such as Campylobacter, Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria, all of which would have been killed during pasteurization.5
Despite the reportedly small number of consumers who drink raw milk, most outbreaks among both pasteurized and unpasteurized milk are attributed to raw milk. In a recent CDC study, researchers found that, of the 56 fluid-milk reported outbreaks between 1993 and 2006, 46 (82%) involved raw milk, while only 10 were attributed to pasteurized milk. These 46 outbreaks led to 930 reported illnesses and 71 reported hospitalizations, with a disproportionate impact on people younger than 20 years of age.6
Based on their findings, the researchers discourage the consumption of raw milk, which some claim is healthier and tastes better than pasteurized milk. They note that the risks are better understood than the benefits, and that further research is needed to determine whether the health benefit claims are legitimate.
Raw milk has become more popular in recent years, even though it is only available for direct purchase at farms in many states. Advocates believe that raw milk, which contains more natural antibodies, proteins and bacteria than pasteurized milk, is healthier, cleaner, tastes better and reduces lactose intolerance and allergies in certain people. Pasteurization, named after Louis Pasteur, involves heating milk to destroy microbes that may have entered the milk supply from fecal contamination, dairy operations, cow udders or other sources. The treated milk is then hermetically sealed to prevent recontamination.
Microbial contaminants commonly found in milk include infectious Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Listeria species along with the Escherichia coli type O157:H7. These bacteria can cause foodborne illness in humans, including diarrhea, vomiting, cramping, fevers, and sometimes more serious consequences such as kidney failure or death.
The process of selling raw milk is legal in all 50 states of the United States. The process of making this milk available to the public differs however, and various jurisdictions have dictated the way consumers can get their raw milk fix. From retail sales to farm purchases to cow sharing methods, there are a few ways in which you can scratch that raw milk itch.
An array of states allows for the unfettered access to raw milk stores in any retail store within the state. The least restrictive of rules to obtain raw milk, you can readily find raw milk in the refrigerators of retail stores in the following states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington.
In addition to the preceding 11 states that have given the nod to retail raw milk sales, two other jurisdictions have weighed in with legal opinions on the legality of selling raw milk. In Utah, state legislators have mandated that the retail outlet selling the raw milk must also be the owner of the farm that produced the milk. Leaders in Oregonm have allowed for the sale of raw sheep and goat milk on retail shelves, but they have drawn the line at the selling of the raw cow milk.
A total of 17 states allows for the sale of raw milk, but their focus is not on the retail level but rather focuses on purchases closer to the source of the milk: farms. Towards that end, the following 10 states have given the nod to on farm sales of raw milk: Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnestoa, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin.
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