Raw milk thoughts on Kat’s Food Blog

As far as I know, Kat is just another blogger sharing her perspectives on food and the culture that surrounds it. Here’s a bit of what she says about raw milk in a recent post:

Media mashup of pictures and titles from Kat's blog. And yes, that's Kat on the left.

“I don’t drink raw milk. I used to think all those raw milk people were crazy. This past spring I started getting raw milk locally, just to try it out. Now I use raw milk for making my yogurt and I can’t go back! If someone took away my raw milk, I would be the one going crazy!

Raw milk regulations in some western states where raw milk is actually legal

There’s been a lot of hullabaloo lately over how the issue of raw milk standards has played out in the case of that farm near Edmonton, and so, for some perspective on the matter, we thought it would be useful to publish this summary of raw milk regulations in states where the sale of raw milk IS legal. I think you could fairly say that the role of regulations such as these is to prevent the spread of disease and to enable consumers to have confidence in the product. But as for whether these standards are best maintained and enforced by the state, or by producer associations, is very much an open question. From a story by Steve Brown, on  Capital Press.com

Raw milk regulations vary by state

Washington

To sell retail raw milk in Washington, a producer must obtain both a milk producer license and a milk processing plant license.

The state requires documentation of water testing, animal health and processing. State inspectors perform raw milk testing approximately once per month. Test results must not exceed these standards:

* Bacterial count: 20,000 per mL.