A bill legalizing the sale of raw milk in Louisiana is about to become law as momentum for food freedom continues to grow nationwide despite federal pushback.
Once the bill becomes law, raw dairy products sold in Louisiana will be required to carry a label that says the product isn’t for human consumption, with a warning that it hasn’t been pasteurized and “may contain harmful bacteria.”
“There has been a push to legalize raw milk for the last several years and we were able to do it in a way that minimized risk to people,“ he told The Epoch Times, adding that there was ”quite a bit of bipartisan support” for the bill.
The imminent end of Louisiana’s dairy prohibition will leave only seven states remaining with a full ban: Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia.
North Dakota farmer Peter Bartlett, whose family owns Bartlett Farms and sells raw dairy products, told The Epoch Times that the deregulation in Louisiana is part of a broader nationwide trend toward food autonomy.
“The whole attitude towards raw milk has changed,” said Mr. Bartlett. “There is a big shift in the perception of dairy as the older generation who grew up with that trust in government authority gives way to a younger generation that is taking a fresh, independent look at the facts.”
After COVID, a lot of people began to doubt what the mainstream medical community was telling them, from vaccines to dietary guidelines, Mr. Bartlett said, leading the public to question other mainstream recommendations.
For decades, a community of dairy farmers and nutrition advocates have campaigned for the right of individuals to produce, sell, and consume fresh unprocessed milk.
Advocates claim the consumption of raw milk provides numerous health benefits, including improving the immune and digestive systems and curing eczema and irritable bowel syndrome. According to raw milk enthusiasts, the pasteurization process not only destroys dangerous pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, and campylobacter, but also destroys its healthy nutrients.
Federal Health Guidance
In its updated May 10 guidance, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a statement claiming that “the FDA and [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] have long standing information regarding the increased risk of foodborne illness associated with numerous pathogens that may be present in raw milk. This increased risk exists for both humans and other animals that might drink raw milk.”The CDC claims that raw milk can carry campylobacter, cryptosporidium, E. coli, listeria, brucella, and salmonella that “can pose serious health risks to you and your family.”
The CDC says raw milk-related outbreaks led to 2,645 illnesses and 228 hospitalizations between 1998 and 2018.
The FDA also warned that turning the clock back to the days before pasteurization could have unintended consequences.
“Decades ago, pasteurization of milk was adopted as a basic public health measure to kill dangerous bacteria,” the FDA said in a statement. “This measure largely eliminated the risk of getting sick from one of the most important staples of the American diet.”
However, Mr. Bartlett, whose raw dairy farm continues to grow in popularity, said that as news of the benefits of raw milk spreads, the last handful of states still holding out from allowing people to purchase natural foods will be forced to bend to consumer sentiment.
“A lot of the statistics that used to scare people have been disproven,” said Mr. Bartlett. “If no one is getting sick from raw milk, why ban it? More people are beginning to realize that raw dairy has the benefits that help heal.”
“The rest of the states can only resist the right of people to purchase the foods they believe to be in their best interest for so long,” he added. “The future legalization is inevitable.”
