Raw Milk Quality and Deregulation

Deregulation of 2021 had the potential to negatively affect raw milk quality throughout the state.

Raw Milk Rule in Idaho

In June of 2021, there was negotiated rulemaking in Idaho across all departments at the order of the Governor to remove administrative rules.  Raw milk was one of those rules that went through negotiated rulemaking.  The new negotiated rule became effective immediately on July 1, 2021, which is the start of a new fiscal year in Idaho and is when new rules and statutes take effect.

The current raw milk statute just states that raw milk retail sales are allowed under regulations/rules promulgated by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).

Prior to July 2021, those rules required the following:

1. Facilities with more than 3 cows were to be inspected and approved according the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), a standard of the federal government and what is essentially the grade A standard.  Pleasant Meadow Creamery at the time was an approved and inspected unlimited raw milk facility, meaning we met the grade A standard by state inspection.
2. The smaller herds, 3 cows or less, did not require facility inspection.
3. All products from all raw milk facilities were tested monthly by the state at the state dairy lab and had to meet certain standards.  If the facility failed to meet the standards 3 times in every 5 tests, the facility was not allowed to sell product until the next testing cycle showed they could pass and therefore passed 3 of the rolling 5 tests.  There were regularly problems with small herds getting shut down by the state.  The tests that were conducted were:  Coliform count, Standard Plate Count (SPC), and Somatic Cell Count (SCC).  The latter test reflects whether the cows are fighting udder infections, which is indicative of clean facilities in which the cows live.  The first two tests are not pathogen tests, but are widely recognized in the industry as being indicative of whether milk is high risk for containing pathogens that can make sick, or low risk.
4. Each animals in a raw milk facility were tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis (TB) annually by a vet.  Brucellosis is abortifacient and can transmit to people in the milk, and TB also can transmit to humans.  These diseases are therefore zoonotic.

After July 1, all of the first three requirements were entirely removed, and only the 4^th requirement remains.  Therefore, anyone with cows, goats, or sheep can sell milk thru stores without state testing or state inspection of facilities.  The current Idaho Raw Milk Rule can be found here:  https://adminrules.idaho.gov/rules/current/02/020413.pdf

There is an industry non- profit group called Raw Milk Institute that produces common standards, which include regular product testing and acceptance levels for the testing.  Those common standards can be found here:  https://www.rawmilkinstitute.org/common-standards

Raw Milk Institute Common Standards

Here are the first four common standards:

1. Have a Risk Analysis and Management Plan (RAMP) for raw milk production
2. Test for coliform bacteria at least monthly
   • Testing frequency will depend on each farmer’s individual RAMP
   • Target: a rolling three-month average of less than 10 coliforms per ml raw milk
3. Test for Standard Plate Count (SPC)* at least monthly
   • Testing frequency will depend on each farmer’s individual RAMP
   • Target: a rolling three-month average of less than 5,000 per ml raw milk
4. Raw Milk shall not contain pathogens including the following 4 main pathogens for raw milk: Salmonella spp., E. coli 0157:H7, Campylobacter spp., and Listeria monocytogenes.
   • Pathogen testing and testing frequency will depend on each farmer’s individual RAMP
   • Small farms and farms who do not have access to pathogen testing labs may rely on coliform and SPC testing as a general indicator of milk hygiene and safety

I have highlighted the two bacteria tests the state used to employ.  The raw milk standard is less than what used to be the Idaho state standard.  Idaho used to allow 15,000 cfu/mL on the standard plate count (SPC) and 25 coliforms per mL of raw milk.  Therefore, the RAWMI standards require much cleaner milk than even the state used to require. 

You’ll note that the RAWMI standard is for monthly testing, but this is not a very high frequency, and producers that take testing and quality very seriously test much more frequently. 

The Current State of Raw Milk in Idaho – Summary

There is no oversight on product or facility quality by the state.  A producer can be producing very contaminated milk, representing a high risk to the consumer, and the producer may not even know it.

One might think a producer would naturally be very cautious and professional in their approach to production, and specifically quality, but the reality is this just is not the case. Some people just really don’t understand microbiology, and/or the effect of good sanitation – or even good udder health.

Many people will buy 1, 2, or more cows and begin milking them and selling the milk without really understanding all the things that go into creating a safe and healthy product. They may think their product is okay, but don’t do anything, such as lab testing, to verify it. As volume increases, meaning as cows are added and more bottles of milk are produced, the risk intensifies. Milking 10 cows is very different than milking two. Everything compounds by more than a factor of one with each cow added. On the other hand, with excellent systems in place, it is easy to add cows. They fit right into a well-designed system.

Pleasant Meadow Creamery tests every batch of milk we bottle and sell. We do this to monitor and verify that our processes are designed and functioning in such a way as to produce low risk raw milk that tastes great and has an excellent shelf life if kept chilled below 40 degrees Farenheit.

Some Recent Testing We Did

Recently, we tested another local supplier’s milk because we had heard they were having problems with store returns. This local supplier is a smaller one, not the larger of our current competitors.

We purchased two bottles from two stores on two different dates and preserved the “cold chain” in bringing them back to our facility and immediately commenced testing.

The results of the tests were that both the coliform counts and the standard plate counts for each of the two samples were Too Numerous To Count according to the 3M/Neogen interpretations of the test plates.

In our opinion, this milk would therefore be high risk raw milk versus low risk, and we would be interested in having a discussion with other producers in this state, and with consumers about the topic of what would be an ideal regulatory environment for raw milk in Idaho.

What Would an Ideal Raw Milk Regulatory Environment Look Like?

Would consumers and producers want a stronger regulatory environment similar to what we used to have, or is this current laisse faire environment adequate and ultimately raw milk is a “buyer beware” situation? Do we want the standard to be codified in statute, or do we want it administered by rules produced by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture? We lean toward statute, since the legislative process is by nature, a deliberative one.

If we went to a more regulated environment in the future, who would pay for it? In the past, there were state inspections of producers greater than 3 cows or 7 goats/sheep. The state paid for those inspections similar to the grade A program. The monthly testing done at the state dairy lab was paid for by the grade A dairies with money funneled through the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, as we understand it. The program cost upwards of $200,000 per year. This was one of the motivations for the association to support removing the testing program in the deregulation process. They felt it had run its course and served their purposes.

We would be interested in hearing from you, the consumer, and from other producers on your thoughts as to what an ideal regulatory environment would look like. Maybe it’s the current one, or maybe there need to be changes. We look forward to hearing from anyone who wants to reach out. You can reach us through our contact page, or you can drop your comments on this post.

In the meantime, we will always continue testing every batch and doing our best to conform to the highest standards of producing low risk raw milk.