Missoula County opposes HB 490, Provide for raw milk sales for human consumption, as currently written, up for hearing this afternoon in the Agriculture Committee. The commercial option in this bill would allow for the sale of an unlimited amount of unpasteurized milk, and the larger the amount of milk, the larger the potential for a serious outbreak. Should the bill be amended to eliminate commercial sales of raw milk, public health agencies would be able to accommodate the small producer option, as it would allow for a better public health response when needed.
Missoula County opposes HB 490, Provide for raw milk sales for human consumption, on the House floor this afternoon. The commercial option in this bill would allow for the sale of an unlimited amount of unpasteurized milk, which would drastically increase the potential for a serious outbreak. There is no safe way to sell unpasteurized milk, so the more volume sold, the higher the risk of a local or state outbreak. Missoula was the unfortunate host of the state's last large E. coli outbreak attributed to unpasteurized milk, and state law was changed in its wake. The dairy broke no rules. Passage of this bill would pose too high of a risk to public health and a place additional burden on local governments to respond.
Sent Feb. 19:
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives Curdy, Keogh, Olsen and Sullivan,
Missoula County opposes HB 490, Provide for raw milk sales for human consumption, as currently written, up for hearing this afternoon in the Agriculture Committee. The commercial option in this bill would allow for the sale of an unlimited amount of unpasteurized milk, and the larger the amount of milk, the larger the potential for a serious outbreak. Should the bill be amended to eliminate commercial sales of raw milk, public health agencies would be able to accommodate the small producer option, as it would allow for a better public health response when needed.
Please oppose HB 490 as currently written.
Sent. Feb. 25:
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives,
Missoula County opposes HB 490, Provide for raw milk sales for human consumption, on the House floor this afternoon. The commercial option in this bill would allow for the sale of an unlimited amount of unpasteurized milk, which would drastically increase the potential for a serious outbreak. There is no safe way to sell unpasteurized milk, so the more volume sold, the higher the risk of a local or state outbreak. Missoula was the unfortunate host of the state's last large E. coli outbreak attributed to unpasteurized milk, and state law was changed in its wake. The dairy broke no rules. Passage of this bill would pose too high of a risk to public health and a place additional burden on local governments to respond.
Please oppose HB 490.