SUMMARY OF STATE RAW MILK LAWS
Raw milk sales are legal on the farm and through home delivery. They are legal in retail stores as well if local health ordinances do not prohibit.
Producers must obtain a permit from the State Department of Agriculture. This requirement applies to any farmer operating a cowshare program. Farmers must bottle the milk on the premises and each bottle must contain a warning label stating
“WARNING:This product has not been pasteurized and may contain harmful bacteria. Pregnant women, children, the elderly, and persons with lowered resistance to disease have the highest risk of harm from use of this product.”
Retail stores must display warning signs near the location of raw milk and raw milk products in the store.
The Department of Agriculture currently limits the raw dairy products licensees can sell to milk and cream. Producers can sell raw milk for animal consumption if they put coloring in the milk. There is currently one retail raw milk licensee in the state.
STATUTES Revised Code of Washington
TITLE 15 AGRICULTURE AND MARKETING
CHAPTER 15.36 MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS
RCW 15.36.012 Definitions.
“Grade A raw milk” means raw milk produced upon dairy farms conforming with all of the items of sanitation contained in the PMO, in which the bacterial plate count does not exceed twenty thousand per milliliter and the coliform count does not exceed ten per milliliter as determined in accordance with RCW 15.36.201.
“Milk processing plant” means a place, premises, or establishment where milk or milk products are collected, handled, processed, stored, bottled, pasteurized, aseptically processed, bottled, or prepared for distribution, except an establishment that merely receives the processed milk products and serves them or sells them at retail.
“Producer” means a person or organization who operates a dairy farm and provides, sells, or offers milk for sale to a milk processing plant, receiving station, or transfer station.
TITLE 15 AGRICULTURE AND MARKETING
CHAPTER 15.36 MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS
RCW 15.36.041 Milk producer’s license.
Every milk producer must obtain a milk producer’s license to operate as a milk producer as defined in this chapter. A milk producer’s license is not transferable with respect to persons or locations or both. The license, issued by the director upon approval of an application for the license and compliance with the provisions of this chapter, shall contain the license number, name, residence, and place of business, if any, of the licensee.
TITLE 15 AGRICULTURE AND MARKETING
CHAPTER 15.36 MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS
RCW 15.36.051 Milk processing plant license.
A milk processing plant must obtain an annual milk processing plant license from the department, which shall expire on June 30 of each year.
TITLE 16 AGRICULTURE, DEPARTMENT OF
CHAPTER 16-101 MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS
(5) What warning label must be on raw milk containers? The raw milk container must bear the following labeling:
WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and may contain harmful bacteria. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and persons with lowered resistance to disease have the highest risk of harm from use of this product.
(6) What are the specific requirements for warning labels on raw milk? The raw milk warning labels must meet the following requirements:
(a) The warning label type size must be consistent with the type size of other required labeling, but not less than one-sixteenth inch in height.
(b) The warning label must be conspicuous and in contrasting color from other labeling.
(c) The warning label must be prominently displayed on the container’s principal display panel.
(d) The warning label must be clearly readable.
TITLE 15 AGRICULTURE AND MARKETING
CHAPTER 15.36 MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS
RCW 15.36.231 Raw milk or milk products - Bottling and capping - Packaging - Labeling.
(1) Milk and milk products for consumption in the raw state shall be bottled or packaged on the farm where produced. Bottling and capping shall be done in a sanitary manner by means of approved equipment and these operations shall be integral in one machine. Caps or cap stock shall be purchased in sanitary containers and kept therein in a clean dry place until used.
(2) All containers enclosing raw milk or any raw milk product shall be plainly labeled or marked with the word “raw” and the name of the producer or packager. The label or mark shall be in letters of a size, kind, and color approved by the director and shall contain no marks or words which are misleading.
REGULATIONS
Washington Administrative Code
TITLE 246 HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF
CHAPTER 246-215 FOOD SERVICE
WAC 246-215-020 Food supplies.
(a) Grade “A” raw milk as defined under RCW 15. 36. 140 may be sold in the original container for off-premises consumption in retail food stores only
TITLE 246 HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF
CHAPTER 246-215 FOOD SERVICE
(6) Whenever raw milk or raw milk cheese or similar raw milk products are offered for sale in a food service establishment, the health officer shall:
(a) Require conspicuous labeling of raw milk or products containing raw milk as “raw milk” or “contains raw milk”;
(b) Require conspicuous posting of signs near the product that state: “Warning: Raw milk or foods prepared from raw milk, such as unripened or fresh cheese, may be contaminated with dangerous bacteria capable of causing severe intestinal illnesses. Contact your local health department for advice or to report a suspected illness”
Revised Code of Washington
TITLE 15 AGRICULTURE AND MARKETING
CHAPTER 15.37 MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS FOR ANIMAL FOOD
RCW 15.37.100 Coloring of milk in containers, when required.
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale, hold for sale, advertise for sale, trade, barter, or to give as an inducement for the sale of another product, any milk, cream, or skim milk, for animal food consumption which does not meet, or has not been produced under conditions prescribed for Grade A milk, as prescribed in chapter 15. 36 RCW as enacted or hereafter amended and rules adopted thereunder, and the applicable provisions of chapter 69. 04 RCW (the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act) as enacted and hereafter amended and rules adopted thereunder, in containers provided either by the vendor or vendee and which are capable of holding less than twenty liquid quarts, unless such milk, cream, or skim milk has been decharacterized with a color prescribed by the director which will not affect its nutritive value for animal food
Last updated January 6th, 2011 |
