A few words in some dry state legislation on dairy standards seem to have stirred up a hornet’s nest in California.

California legislative representatives who met for an hour-and-a-half yesterday with Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy Co., the state’s largest producer of raw milk, told him they have received thousands of email messages and hundreds of faxes protesting those few words—a standard limiting raw milk to 10 coliform bacteria per milliliter and could have the effect of taking up to three-fourths of raw milk off the retail market.

As a result of the protests, Mark says he is hopeful the standard will be changed—either eliminated or adjusted so the limit is perhaps 100 coliform per milliliter.

“The legislative people were upset and amazed,” Mark reported. “They seemed to be saying, ‘It’s a mistake, let’s fix it.’ We want to work with you and change it and make things right.”

He suggested that consumers not assume everything will be okay, however. “Raw milk is still very much in jeopardy.”

Mark also says he had checked with some dairies in Washington, where the 10-coliform-per-milliliter standard has been implemented, and “inspectors have been letting producers slide—higher levels are being allowed.” But, of course, who wants to depend on the ongoing kindness of regulators?

He says his recent measurements of Organic Pastures raw milk show readings of 12-20 coliforms per milliliter, “which wouldn’t qualify under the new standard.”

A lawyer who Mark says accompanied his party on a pro bono basis, Joel Siegel, compared the new standard to requiring everyone to drive their cars at five miles per hour. In other words, all risk would be eliminated, but cars would be rendered useless.

Mark says he made tried to make the case that coliform bacteria are naturally occurring, and that there’s no correlation between them and pathogens. He also pointed out that once milk is disturbed—such as during the automated bottling he is required to do—coliform counts rise. “I came loaded for bear,” with studies and experts to back him up, including two epidemiologists.

He says the legislative people indicated he should have been consulted in advance of the legislative change. The legislation requiring the new standard, he says, had no sponsor—it was staff directed—which suggests that it was pushed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The next step? Mark is supposed to provide a written package of data and studies to legislative representatives within the next two weeks to follow up on the meeting. He’s hopeful the situation will be rectified. “They said, ‘It’s a mistake, let’s fix it.’”

He knows there are no guarantees of change, but feels it was "an excellent meeting. I let them know raw milk is sacred food in California."