BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1604
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          Date of Hearing:   January 16, 2008

                          ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                                 Nicole Parra, Chair
                   AB 1604 (Parra) - As Amended:  January 14, 2008
           
          SUBJECT  :  Raw milk.

           SUMMARY  :  Deletes the required standard of 10 coliform bacteria  
          or less per milliliter for raw milk that is sold to the public.   
          (An Urgency Clause is to be added.)
           
           EXISTING LAW  requires that raw milk that is sold for retail  
          human consumption meet a 10 coliform bacteria per milliliter  
          standard or less, in the container.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  This bill is keyed "non-fiscal" by Legislative  
          Counsel.

           COMMENTS  :  Last year this committee passed AB 1735 (Agriculture)  
          which was signed into law, effective January 1, 2008, that  
          established for the first time in California, a coliform  
          standard for raw bottled milk sold for human consumption.  That  
          standard was "10 or less coliform bacteria per milliliter."  The  
          bill was introduced with this language on March 15, 2007 and was  
          heard in three policy committees between the Assembly and  
          Senate; there was no registered or known opposition during this  
          legislative process.  After the bill became law, opposition came  
          forward and concerns were raised that this standard could not be  
          met and consumers may not have access to raw milk.  

          The policy of this committee regarding committee bills is that  
          any section(s) that have opposition are either dropped from the  
          bill or given to a committee member who may wish to pursue those  
          policy changes.  The Chair of this Committee has introduced this  
          measure to provide a hearing for the opponents of the newly  
          created standards, which were not involved in the legislative  
          process and were not aware that raw milk coliform standards were  
          under consideration by the Legislature.  And, the Legislature  
          was not informed that there might be opposition to these new  
          standards.

          California has two raw milk producers; one milking approximately  
          300 cows monthly and the other approximately 45 cows monthly.   
          It is estimated that there are roughly 40,000 raw milk consumers  








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          in California.

          According to one producer (taken from the website  
           www.organicpastures.com  ), raw milk provides many healthy  
          consumer benefits and is good for consumers.  Specifically,  
          Organic Pastures' (OPD) web-site states that: " Natural organic  
          raw milk has in it vitally important living things. These  
          include the following: beneficial bacteria, enzymes (including  
          lipase, protease. and other), lactase forming bacteria, and many  
          enzyme based pathogen killing systems. The common practice of  
          pasteurization inactivates or dramatically reduces the effects  
          of these important active (living) elements. As a result, you  
          may be lactose intolerant when drinking pasteurized milk, but  
          not lactose intolerant when you drink raw milk. This is because  
          lactase enzymes are being formed when you digest raw milk. That  
          is why we say, "only living milk brings life.""

          Further, in their support letter, OPD stated that contrary to  
          the California Department of Food and Agriculture's press  
          release referenced below, Idaho and Nevada prohibits the sale of  
          raw milk, even though Idaho has a standard of 50 coliform per  
          milliliter on the books and that Washington State does not  
          provide results of the bacteria tests back to the dairies, nor  
          does it enforce its standard.

          The community of raw milk consumers believe raw milk products  
          are healthier products than pasteurized milk products.  They  
          contend that the higher levels of coliform are due to beneficial  
          bacteria that aide the consumer in many different ways.  This  
          community is very concerned that they will lose the availability  
          to purchase raw milk products if the coliform standards are not  
          removed.

          The coliform bacteria count has historically been used as an  
          indicator of sanitation of the milking facility and the  
          processing facility.  There are certain coliform bacteria which  
          are pathogenic and can cause severe illness and death.  There  
          has been illness tied to raw milk consumption, according to  
          reports by the Center for Disease Control.  There was also a  
          recent incident where pasteurized milk caused illness and death  
          in Pennsylvania due to the milk not being properly pasteurized  
          or contaminated by other means.

          Raw milk policy varies greatly across the nation, with some  
          states prohibiting the sale of raw milk: five states have  








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          coliform standards, and some don't have producers to provide the  
          products.  The FDA and the CDC have strong warnings on their  
          web-sites about the dangers of consuming raw milk and urges  
          people to avoid its consumption.  FDA prohibits the interstate  
          shipping of raw milk for human consumption and requires a  
          warning label be on all raw milk products.

          According to CDFA's October 2007 Press Release, "the new  
          standard sets a maximum amount of coliform bacteria at no more  
          than 10 bacteria per milliliter (mL) in milk sold raw to the  
          consumer, the same limit required for pasteurized milk. This  
          level is consistent with both national and international public  
          health and food safety requirements as reflected in standards  
          set for pasteurized dairy products by the U.S. Food and Drug  
          Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture  
          (USDA), the Canadian Food Inspection Service, and the European  
          Economic Community (EEC). It is also the same standard currently  
          used for raw milk sold for direct consumption in several western  
          states, including Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Washington."

           Related legislation  :  AB 1735 (Agriculture), Chapter 339,  
          Statutes of 2007, Milk and dairy products: standards.  This bill  
          made numerous technical changes to conform California statute to  
          federal milk product guidelines, including establishment of  
          coliform standards for raw milk that is sold to the public.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Claravale Farm
          Organic Pastures Dairy Company, LLC

           Opposition 
           
          None received
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084