MORNINGLAND DAIRY TRIAL SET for JANUARY 11 & 12

On Tuesday, January 11 a trial will begin at the Howell County Courthouse in West Plains, Missouri to determine whether 50,000 pounds of cheese held at the facility of Morningland Dairy LLC will be destroyed despite no reports of illness. The cheese has been under embargo since August 26; Morningland was also ordered to cease all cheese production on that date. Morningland is a farmstead cheese operation located in Mountain View, Missouri that has been in business for over thirty years without any reported illnesses from the consumption of its products.

On October 22, the Missouri State Milk Board filed a petition for a condemnation order that will be heard on Tuesday. On October 1, the Milk Board had issued a letter informing Joe and Denise Dixon, owners of Morningland, requesting that the dairy destroy their entire cheese inventory because cheese samples sent off for testing on August 27 by Morningland came back positive for Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono.) and Staphylococcus aureus (Staph aureus).

Also to be heard at the trial by the judge are counterclaims filed by Morningland Dairy asking the court to lift the August 26 embargo and to vacate the October 1 destruction letter. For background details, read the November action alert.