BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2505 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair AB 2505 (Yamada) - As Amended: April 3, 2014 SUBJECT : Milk: home dairy farms: sharing, exchange, or direct sale of raw milk. SUMMARY : This bill defines a home dairy farm (HDF) as having three or less lactating cows or 15 or less lactating goats and sheep, as specified. Allows a HDF to directly sell or share excess raw milk, as specified. Requires a HDF to follow health and safety rules if the HDF sells or shares excess raw milk. Specifically, this bill : 1. Makes findings and declarations that farm families consume and share raw milk from their own farm, that some people prefer raw milk and prefer getting it from a local known source, and states that raw milk consumption is legal in California and in 33 other states. 2. States the intent of the legislation to allow farm families that are a HDF to sell or share excess raw milk, ensure the sales and sharing conform to appropriate health and safety labeling, and to exempt an HDF operation from laws and regulations that apply to larger scale retail milk producers. 3. Defines a HDF as any place where raw milk is produced, with no more than three lactating cows or water buffalos or no more than 15 lactating goats, sheep or other hooved animals. Requires that the raw milk produced on a HDF is primarily for home consumption and not for retail sales. 4. Exempts an HDF from current construction, repair and sanitation standards that apply to dairy farms. 5. Defines direct sales as transactions for raw milk between a HDF farmer and a consumer, when the consumer buys directly from the HDF farmer. a. Limits direct sales to on site sales at a HDF, which can include preordering from the HSF; and, AB 2505 Page 2 b. Prohibits sales arranged online, through a retailer or other distributer. 6. Defines a Home Dairy Farmer as a person who owns or operates a HDF. 7. Defines raw milk as milk produced at a HDF that is not pasteurized, processed or otherwise adulterated. 8. Prohibits a HDF from manufacturing, processing or online or retail sales of raw milk. 9. Prohibits a HDF from selling to exchanging raw milk at farmers temporary food events, including farmer markets, as specified. 10. Allows a HDF to share, exchange or engage in direct sale of raw milk, as specified, if the raw milk is from healthy animals that reside on a HDF, and requires the raw milk to be clean, pure and unadulterated and from healthy animals that have not tested positive for diseases, as specified. 11. Requires a HDF to have annual testing for brucellosis and tuberculosis, as specified, and isolate and take other appropriate action for animals that test positive, as specified. 12. Requires a HDF to keep the following records on site for at least two years for the following: a. Analyses and bacteriological examination of raw milk; and, b. Brucellosis and tuberculosis test result for HDF dairy animals. 13. Requires HDF raw milk sold by direct sales to comply with the following: a. In a container clearly labeled with the products' name, raw milk, keep refrigerated, the name and home address of the HDF, product quantity, date packages and warning of the health risk of raw milk, as specified; AB 2505 Page 3 b. Prohibits the HDF raw milk from being sold or made available for other distribution as market milk, guaranteed milk, certified milk, Grade A milk, or processed milk; c. Exempts the HDF raw milk from regulations applied to the milks categories of milk listed in (b) above; d. Limits the size of the HDF raw milk containers to one gallon or less; and, e. Requires the HDF raw milk sold to be in bottles and labeled by use of an attached and readable neck tag, as specified. 14. Requires that a HDF not mislabel or disseminate false advertising related to health benefit claims, as specified. 15. Requires a HDF that engages in sharing, exchanging and direct sales of raw milk to do the following related to care and feeding of HDF animals: a. Requires feed to not be spoiled or unfit for milk producing animals and be protected from contamination during storage; b. Requires animals kept in a sanitary and safe environment; c. Requires animals have access to clean water, as specified; d. Requires persons who come in contact with raw milk to be clean and free of communicable disease, as specified; e. Requires persons milking the animals must wash their hands before touching the animals; f. Requires animals milked to be in a location that has overhead protection in inclement weather, and the location is clean, as specified; AB 2505 Page 4 g. Requires animals to be kept clean during milking; h. Requires all equipment used for milking animals be cleaned and sanitized after each use and stored in a clean place, as specified; i. Requires the water supply used for cleaning animals or equipment to be potable; j. Requires that HDF raw milk provided to a consumer to be cooled, as specified, until provided to the consumer, and cannot contain more than 15,000 bacteria per milliliter or more than 10 coliform bacteria per millimeter; aa. Requires that HDF raw milk provided to a consumer cannot contain more than 600,000 somatic cells per milliliter of cow's milk or no more than 1,000,000 somatic cells per milliliter of goat's milk; bb. Requires that HDF raw milk provided to a consumer must be filtered, as specified; and, cc. Prohibits a HDF raw milk consumer to resell or redistribute HDF raw milk. 16. Allows authorities to inspect a HDF for compliance issues, if there has been a consumer complaint or other reliable source of information, or reasonable belief of non-compliance, as specified. 17. Limits an HDF inspection to the premise where the lactating animals, milking equipment, or bottling equipment is kept, or where milk is bottled and worker sanitation facilities are maintained. EXISTING LAW: 1. The Milk and Milk Products Act (MMPA) regulates the preparation, production, manufacture, distribution, and sale of milk, and specified milk products. MMPA defines "dairy farm" to mean any place where milk is produced for sale or other distribution and where more than two cows or water buffalo, or six goats, sheep, or other hooved AB 2505 Page 5 mammals, are in lactation. 2. The Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law (Sherman Law), requires the State Department of Public Health (DPH) to regulate the manufacture, sale, labeling, and advertising activities related to food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics in conformity with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The Sherman Law authorizes any authorized agent of DPH to enter and inspect establishments to determine, among other things, whether any food, drug, device, or cosmetic is adulterated, misbranded, or falsely advertised, as specified. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill has been keyed fiscal. COMMENTS : This bill defines a HDF as having no more than three lactating cows or no more than 15 lactating goats on the premises. This bill would allow a HDF to sell, on site, excess raw milk produced by the HDF. A HDF would be exempt from current dairy farm law, and instead have new, but similar health and safety standards. According to the author, this bill incorporates these small-scale raw milk producers into critical safety and sanitation standards. Furthermore, the author states that safety and sanitation standards for home dairy farms include having their animals tested and found non-reactive to annual tuberculin and brucellosis testing, maintaining strict milk temperatures, and strict bacterial limits, the same standards required for Grade A raw market milk. Supporters state farm families have a long history of choosing to drink raw milk from their cows and goats and have shared this milk with friends and neighbors in the community. Currently, it is necessary for a dairy farm to obtain a permit, build special infrastructures such as milking rooms, and pay for regular farm inspection fees, animal health inspection fees and grading of the milk and fat content measuring. According to supporters, the cost of these requirements can prevent families with a few cows from being able to share their milk legally. Supporters state this bill will provide California's small family farms a legal method for putting their milk to use instead of throwing it away. Opponents worry that this bill replaces current law with a more AB 2505 Page 6 lax regulatory structure that is not based on sound public policy. Medical and health organizations point out that unpasteurized raw milk presents a serious health risk, and California's current law regulates raw milk production to minimize risk to the public. Opponents point out a 2012 study, in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated raw milk was much more likely to cause outbreaks than pasteurized milk. Furthermore, CDC found that the outbreaks caused by raw milk tended to cause more severe disease, with the hospitalization rates for patients in outbreaks caused by raw milk is 13 times higher than the rate for people in outbreaks caused by pasteurized milk. Opponents state that while this bill does establish sanitation standards and strict bacterial limits, the enforcement mechanisms are weak at best. Inspections are driven by consumer complaint or other reliable evidence of an incident. Opponents state that this means inspections by health officials could only be reactive and not preventative. Unlike current dairy inspections, which are funded by dairy farm fees, there would be no funding for inspections or enforcement for HDF violations. Opponent state that the bill has no penalties for violations, thus further weakening enforcement. One of the main ideas behind this bill is to give a HDF the ability to legally have on-farm selling of their raw milk. If legal legitimacy is a goal, it is not unreasonable to know who is acting as a HDF under this bill. The committee may wish to consider having a HDF register with the California Department of Food and Agriculture in order to ensure public knowledge of the numbers and locations of HDFs. With the concern over the potential issue that may arise from this legislation, the committee may wish to consider if it is appropriate public policy, for legislative oversight, to place a three year sunset on this bill. To clarify legislative intent, the committee may wish to consider the following amendment: (page 25-29) (c) Exemptsmall scalehome dairy farm operations fromburdensome laws and regulations applicable to the production of market milk by large-scale retail milk producersthat are not necessary or appropriate for the operation of small home dairy farms producing raw milk. AB 2505 Page 7 The definition of raw milk in this bill states that HDF milk "is not pasteurized, processed or adulterated." Processed can apply to bottling and adulterated as it relates to food products means "Any food is adulterated if it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance that may render it injurious to health of man or any other animal that may consume it." To clarify the definition of raw milk for the purpose of this bill, the committee may wish to consider the following amendment: (page 5, lines 1-3) (d) "Raw milk" means milk that is produced at a place or premise of a home dairy farm that is not pasteurized, processed, or otherwise adulterated. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Adkins Felch LLP California Farmers Union California State Grange Community Alliance with Family Farmers Sustainable Economies Law Center Opposition Agricultural Council of California California Dairies, Inc. California Farm Bureau Federation California Medical Association Dairy Farmers of America Health Officers Association of California International Dairy Foods Association Land O' Lake, Inc. Milk Producers Council National Milk Producers Federation Western United Dairymen Analysis Prepared by : Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084