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Raw milk? 
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Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:20 am
Posts: 2
Post Raw milk?
I'd like to be able to purchase milk (raw??) or if not pasteurized but not homogenized. PA allows it but WV doesn't.


Thu Dec 03, 2009 2:47 pm
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Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:41 pm
Posts: 11
Location: West Virginia
Post Re: Raw milk?
It is an interesting topic and heatedly debated. I've listed all the raw milk rulings for WV and the surrounding states. It's interesting to see how each state handles the topic so differently, I have always wanted to learn how to make artisan cheeses which uses raw milk. Look at the ruling in Kentucky, you can get raw goat milk IF you get written permission from your doctor.

WEST VIRGINIA

Summary:
Raw milk sales are illegal. In addition, state law prohibits the sale of cow shares.

West Virginia Code of State Rules
TITLE 64 LEGISLATIVE RULE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
SERIES 34 GRADE "A" PASTEURIZED MILK

ยง 64-34-3. Definitions.

Milk and milk products defined in the state agriculture laws (Article 11, Chapter 19, Sections 1 and 2) and/or regulations adopted by the West Virginia department of agriculture shall apply in the interpretation and the enforcement of this regulation. The following definitions shall, also, apply in like manner: In absence of a definition established by the state agriculture department and/or the state board of health, definitions for all such products regulated by this regulation shall be identical to that contained in the 1978 edition of the U. S. food and drug administration's recommended Grade A pasteurized milk ordinance and to the products defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Sections 131 and 133.

64-34-2. Incorporation By Reference of Federal Model Grade "A"
Pasteurized Milk Ordinance.

2.1.i.1. The following is added to Section 9, Milk and Milk Products
Which May Be Sold: "The practice of selling shares or other interests in
dairy animals as a means of providing unpasteurized milk to the final
consumer is prohibited

Ohio's Law is interesting:
Summary: Raw milk sales are illegal. Raw milk sales are technically legal under state law, but only for vendors that hold a valid raw milk retailer license from the state and who have been "engaged continuously in the business of selling or offering for sale raw milk directly to ultimate consumers" since 1965. There is no longer anyone in the state meeting that criterion.

Pennsylvania:
Raw milk sales are legal on the farm and in retail stores. Raw milk for retail producers must have a permit and can only sell to stores if they have their own packaging operation with labeling and bottling machines. Stores purchasing raw milk from farmers for resale do not ordinarily need a permit. Producers selling raw milk only on the farm do not need bottling equipment because the state permits customers to bring their own containers.

The only raw milk product that licensees can sell legally is cheese. According to the Department of Agriculture, this is because the state has a standard of identity regulation only for raw cheese, not for any other raw dairy products. If a dairy product does not have a standard of identity regulation, the Department will not issue a permit for it.

MARYLAND

Summary:

Raw milk sales for human consumption are illegal.
Except for sale of raw milk by a holder of a milk producer permit to a holder of a milk processor permit, a person may not sell raw milk for human consumption

KENTUCKY

Summary:
Raw milk sales are illegal with one exception. An individual with a written recommendation from a physician may purchase raw goat milk. The goat milk producer must have a permit from the state Cabinet for Health Services and can only sell raw milk directly to individuals on the farm. Goat milk producers must keep the written recommendation statement on file for at least one year. In addition, "the producer shall keep on file records stating volume of unpasteurized goat milk sold and date of sales to each person having submitted a written recommendation statement."

VIRGINIA

Summary:

Raw milk sales are illegal. According to the State Department of Agriculture, there are two cow share programs operating in Virginia, one of which has state approval. At one time, state regulations governing milk for manufacturing purposes covered only dairy products (cheese, butter) made from cow milk and did not apply to raw butter and cheese made from the milk of any other animal. That changed in 2005 when the department issued new regulations covering the production and sale of dairy products from the milk of any animal.

Under the new regulations, cheese manufacturers, among other requirements, must:

1. Obtain a permit to operate "(i)a dairy farm producing milk for manufacturing purposes or (ii)a dairy plant."
2. Must manufacture cheese that complies with the federal standard of identity regulations.
Any raw cheese not complying with a specific federal standard of identity is illegal. The regulations now require pasteurization of all "nonstandardized cheese."
3. Engage daily in the business for which the permit is issued. Failure to do this can result in the loss of the permit.
4. Not label or advertise any cheese made from unpasteurized milk as "fresh." Under the regulatory definition only pasteurized cheese can be fresh.
The new regulations impose burdensome building, equipment and record-keeping requirements as well.

Read literally the regulations even apply to farmers producing dairy products strictly for their own consumption. The state legislature has addressed this with the passage of a law stating that:

"No regulation shall prohibit or restrict a person, his immediate family, or his guests from consuming products or commodities grown or processed on his property provided that the products or commodities are not offered for sale to the public."

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To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves....Ghandi


Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:19 pm
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