Warning Labels Proposed for All Raw Milk Products

The state Department of Health Services has proposed emergency regulations that would require warning labels on all raw milk and raw milk products sold in California. The labels would warn consumers that raw milk “may contain disease-causing microorganisms” that pose particular risks to newborns, infants, pregnant women, the elderly, and the chronically ill.

The regulations would take effect April 1, if they are approved this month by the state Office of Administrative Law.

The state proposal, filed Thursday, is the latest salvo in a battle between public health officials and the raw milk industry. State officials maintain that raw milk is a potential health hazard because it is not pasteurized to kill germs that can cause disease.

This claim is disputed by industry officials, who often tout raw milk and related products such as cheese, cream and butter, as natural, healthful foods. An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Southern Californians consume the products.

“To single out raw milk from other foods I think is unfair,” said Boyd Clark, general manager of Stueve’s Natural of Chino and Claremont, which produces about 90% of the raw milk products sold in California. “There are many foods which may contain a pathogen (a disease-causing germ) from time to time, but there are no warning labels on fish or chicken or eggs or pasteurized milk.”

Clark said he has not seen a copy of the proposed regulations.

Stueve’s has been unable to sell non-pasteurized dairy products in California since October because the herds the dairy depends upon for its milk supplies have been quarantined by the state. Four herds tested positive for brucella, one for listeria and another for salmonella, all of which are bacteria that can cause serious human diseases.

“We hope to be back on the market soon,” Clark said. Before the quarantine, Stueve’s marketed as much as 10,000 gallons of “raw certified milk” each day.

The proposed warning would appear within a heavy borderline with the word “WARNING” in capital letters at least one-quarter inch high.

It states that people at “highest risk of disease . . . include newborns and infants; the elderly; pregnant women, those taking corticosteroids, antibiotics or antacids; and those having chronic illnesses or other conditions that weaken their immunity.”

While raw milk represents less than 10% of all milk produced in the United States, it is responsible for more than 90% of disease outbreaks related to milk, according to the state.

The proposal states that despite 44 public health alerts about the dangers of drinking contaminated raw milk or raw milk products, “the public remains largely uninformed of this risk.”

Without pasteurization, it is impossible to prevent disease-causing germs from entering raw milk through fecal contamination during the milking process or through ongoing infection of the milk glands.

About half of the states ban raw milk sales. According to the state, there are six raw milk dairies in California, including four small goat herds, a small cow dairy, and Stueve’s.