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California's two raw milk producers filed suit Thursday to keep the state from imposing a strict new standard that, they say, would put them out of business.
The suit, filed in San Benito County Superior Court, is part of an all-out effort by the raw milk dairies and the estimated 40,000 dedicated raw milk consumers in California to forestall enforcement of the new law, AB1735, which takes effect January 1.
It was filed by Claravale Farm, which recently moved its herd to Paicines (San Benito County), and Organic Pastures of Fresno against the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
The agriculture department hadn't yet seen the lawsuit and had no immediate comment, spokesman Jay Van Rein said.
"Right now, the department is preparing to enforce the law when it takes effect," Van Rein said.
The new standard, he added, is "just a matter of staying ahead of the curve on food safety."
For the first time, the law limits coliform bacteria in bottled raw milk to just 10 per milliliter, the same standard that pasteurized milk must meet.
The lawsuit contends that "it's not technically possible nor economically feasible" for raw milk to meet such a low limit.
Van Rein, however, said California Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura has checked with his counterparts in Washington and Pennsylvania, which also have adopted a 10-coliform limit, "to make sure their dairies have been able to comply."
Full Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/12/28/
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California Dairies Sue to Stop Enforcement of Standard on Raw Milk
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By Carol Ness
San Francisco Chronicle, December 28, 2007
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