BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1604
Page 1
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
AB 1604
Page 2
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
AB 1604
Page 3
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