TodayCapitol rally, hearing pit milk choice vs. public health
Supporters rally to raw milk farmers; officials dispute health benefits, cite risks of unpasteurized dairy products.
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Article RatingAdvocates of unpasteurized milk brought a controversial local issue to center stage in the state Capitol on Tuesday.
Supporters of so-called “raw milk” used a public hearing before the state Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee to persuade legislators to alter laws that restrict the sale of unpasteurized milk and other dairy products — regulations the supporters say are unnecessary and restrict personal choice.
But several medical professionals testified before the committee to warn that a change in raw milk regulation could harm public health.
In August, Newville farmer Mark Nolt had his supply of raw milk and other products seized by the government because he was selling them without a permit. The move outraged many of Nolt’s customers, about 100 of whom later rallied on Nolt’s farm to support him.
Committee members cited Nolt’s case several times as an example of why they were looking into the issue.
Raw-milk advocates testified they want legislators to allow the unpermitted sale of raw milk directly to consumers and the sale of raw dairy products like yogurt. The law does not allow for the sale of any raw dairy product other than milk.
Brian Snyder, executive director of Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, a group that represents many of the farms that produce raw milk, said changing the laws would help farms take advantage of a growing demand from consumers for raw products.
“There are far more sales of raw milk than anyone knows,” said Snyder, who called raw milk a “genuine success story for Pennsylvania agriculture.”
Snyder said the number of farms with a permit to sell raw milk has tripled since 2003 — to 74 — to keep up with the increasing demand.
But public health experts said unpasteurized milk can harbor harmful bacteria that can make those who drink it sick, potentially even killing them.
Michael Huff, the deputy secretary for health planning and assessment with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said that in 1938, before the widespread adoption of pasteurization, 25 percent of all food and waterborne outbreaks were associated with milk. Today, he said, that number is less than 1 percent.
“Raw milk has long been known by public health authorities to be an inherently unsafe product,” Huff said.
Huff said earlier this year that 29 state residents became ill from a rare strain of the bacteria salmonella, 20 of whom had consumed raw milk or ate raw cheese from a York County farm. Huff said testing showed the same strain of salmonella that had made those people sick was present in the York County dairy. He recommended against any alteration to the permit system.
Raw-milk advocates dispute the health department’s findings, saying much of the science behind pasteurization is outdated and does not take into account the many health benefits raw milk can provide. They also stressed they support only raw milk from grass-fed cows, not cows confined to a pen that often may live in filthy conditions.
During the hearing, several people offered the legislators and crowd anecdotal evidence of raw milk’s health benefits, with one woman saying it had repaired her badly damaged digestive tract.
But even if drinking raw milk is risky, advocates say the risk is theirs alone.
Peggy Wolff, who lives on a farm west of Carlisle and is a customer of Nolt’s, testified that she should be allowed to drink raw milk because she’s putting only herself at risk.
“I should be free to make the informed choice to assume the very slight risk of illness if I wish,” Wolff said.
State Senator Pat Vance, R-Cumberland, who appeared at the hearing because Nolt is one of her constituents, said she mostly supports the permit system. But Vance, herself a drinker of raw milk, said she would support the sale of some raw dairy products, such as yogurt.
“I think there’s a compromise here,” Vance said.
After the hearing, raw-milk advocates held a rally outside the Capitol’s front steps. Speakers reiterated their belief that raw milk was not only safe, but healthier than pasteurized milk.
Sally Fallon, president of The Weston A. Price Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based raw milk advocacy group, compared raw milk to organic foods 20 years ago, when many scientists and the mainstream public rejected that they held any health benefits.
“I predict in 10 years,” Fallon said, “more people will drink unpasteurized milk than pasteurized milk.”
