Amos Miller wants to cross state lines to sell his Pennsylvania-made raw milk

It’s been said that recent outbreaks of illness in the United States are raising renewed concerns about selling and consuming raw milk and raw milk products.

One defense is a federal law prohibiting raw milk product shipment for human consumption across state lines. And FDA regulations prohibit raw milk from interstate commerce.

Those prohibitions were upheld in 2012 by a federal court.

Yet Amos Miller is asking the state judge handling his case in Pennsylvania to permit him to sell raw milk in other states.

In the civil case filed on Jan. 24,  the Pennsylvania Attorney General is suing  Miller on behalf of the state Department of Agriculture for not having permits to sell raw milk products nor having a required retail license

Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture has 114 raw milk farms with these routine licenses and permits.

Lancaster Judge Thomas Sponaugle, who is hearing the Miller matter, has clarified that it is a case about the lack of permits and licenses, not raw milk.

The current injunction prohibits Miller from commercial raw and raw milk product sales until he gets the required paperwork from the state Agriculture Department.

“Nothing in this order is to detract from the sincerely held beliefs of individuals who believe in the benefits of raw milk products,” according to the judge’s order.

Sponaugle said Miller could resume raw milk sales quickly once he gets the same licenses and permits that Pennsylvania’s other 114 raw milk dairies operate under.

Miller claims he and his customers will face “substantial irreparable injury” if he cannot resume sales outside Pennsylvania.

Earlier, his attorney asked the judge to lift the injunction against all of Miller’s raw milk-related sales, and the request was denied.

Last month, the FDA urged consumers not to eat Raw Farm brand Raw Cheddar blocks and shredded cheese products responsible for a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7. Also, by the end of February, the FDA said 11 confirmed infections had been reported in five states: California, Colorado, New Jersey, Texas, and Utah. Five patients were hospitalized, with two developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) that can result in kidney failure. No one has died.

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