Lawmakers backtrack, push repeal of raw milk limits

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Dairies hit by a new law two weeks ago say the bacteria regulations will force them to shut, and a state agency draws heat

Assemblywoman Parra, D-Hanford, discusses her Assembly Bill 1604 Wednesday at an Assembly Agriculture Committee hearing. Her measure would toss out the tougher bacteria standards for raw milk that she helped pass last year. Randy Pench

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Just two weeks after new restrictions on raw milk took effect, the Assembly Agriculture Committee voted unanimously this week to repeal them after the state's two raw milk producers said they would go out of business if they had to comply.

Assemblywoman Parra, the Hanford Democrat who supported the new limits last year and is now leading the charge to repeal them, said she was deceived by agriculture officials in the Schwarzenegger administration who said the limits had broad support.

As the committee met Wednesday, hundreds of raw milk backers protested the tighter restrictions on bacteria counts, which took effect Jan. 1.

Parra's measure, Assembly Bill 1604, would stop enforcement of limits for raw milk of 10 coliform bacteria or less per milliliter until June 30. Effective July 1, it would fix the limit at 50 coliform bacteria or fewer per milliliter.

Co-authors are Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles.

The 90-minute hearing opened with sharp criticism of the state Department of Food and Agriculture, none of whose representatives appeared before the committee. Parra, the committee's chairwoman, said she was misled by department staff who "purposely omitted mention of opposition to the bill."

She also faulted the agency for not contacting the two producers, Organic Pastures Dairy Co. in Fresno County and Claravale Farms Inc. in San Benito County. And she shouldered some of the blame for "not grilling my ag consultant and (the department) more thoroughly."

Nearly 50 people voiced support for Parra's bill, including Walter Robb, president of Whole Foods Market, a chain based in Austin, Texas. "Raw milk is a small part of our dairy case, but a significant choice," Robb said.

Opponents of Parra's bill included Kline of the California Medical Association and Dr. Payne of the University of California Western Institute of Food Safety and Security, both of whom cited risks posed by raw milk consumption.

Department representatives have contended that coliform levels serve as an indicator of dairy sanitation.

Department spokesman Steve Lyle said the bill passed last year followed the normal legislative process: "It was voted on six times in the Legislature – three in the Assembly, three in the Senate. And was heard twice in committee as part of that. This was a process that played out over months."

The two raw milk producers have sued the state to stop enforcement of the law.

Some of raw milk's appeal is that it contains "essential probiotic good bacteria," said Mark McAfee, founder and an owner of Organic Pastures.

McAfee and Ron Garthwaite, who shares ownership of Claravale Farms with his wife, Collette Cassidy, said that complying with the new limit of 10 coliform bacteria per milliliter has been disrupting production.

The lawsuit, filed in San Benito County, contends that "the only coliforms that cause illness when consumed in raw milk are specific, identifiable strains of E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter."

The lawsuit disputes an agriculture department claim that the new limits were required to comply with federal guidelines on interstate milk shipment. It points out that federal law prohibits interstate shipment of raw milk for human consumption.

Ron Garthwaite, left, and his wife, Colette Cassidy, center, testify at a hearing about their Claravale Farm milk along with Walter Robb, president of Whole Foods.

By Dennis Pollock - dpollock@...

Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, January 19, 2008Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3

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