California has been the national leader in legal raw milk sales, till now that is. AB1735 will go into affect on January 1, 2008. The law does not explicitly outlaw the sale of raw milk and goes so far as to say, “the state does not intend to limit or restrict the availability of certified raw milk.” However, the standard set for coliform bacteria content is so rigid that about 80% of all raw milk will not qualify for sale.

The sad fact of the matter is that the majority of coliform bacteria are beneficial. The law does not require testing for pathogenic coliform bacteria, but makes a blanket statement about all coliform, beneficial or otherwise.

I refuse to drink pasteurized (or homogenized) milk and go out of my way to get the real thing. My hope was that some of the progress made in California would spread to other parts of the country. Instead, the government is once again sticking it’s fingers where it doesn’t belong.

For more information about what you can do, read more about the Government Sneak Attack on California Raw Milk.