Bill filed to allow raw milk sales

WRAL.com

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina residents would be able to buy raw, unpasteurized milk under a bill filed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

The measure was filed by Reps. Dennis Riddell, R-Alamance, Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, Edgar Starnes, R-Caldwell, and Jo Sam Queen, D-Haywood. It would allow residents to buy shares in a lactating animal in order to obtain its unpasteurized milk.

Pasteurization is a process through which heat is applied to milk in order to kill bacteria and other contaminants. According to the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unpasteurized raw milk can spread salmonella, Campylobacter and other diseases. Raw milk can be sold in North Carolina but only for animal feed and only if marked and dyed in order to discourage human consumption.

However, some natural food advocates extol what they see as the health benefits of not subjecting milk to pasteurization. They have pushed for a number of raw milk legalization measures over the past decade, none of which have passed.

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