Is it legal to sell raw milk?

We've had discussions on selling milk in the past, and I just found this great map that shows the status of raw milk sales in every state. If you mouse over your state, the status will pop up.
http://ftcldf.org/raw_milk_map.htm

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  • I was using Yogourmet culture when it didn't work with raw milk. Now I use the yogurt culture from the Dairy Connection in Wisconsin, and it works fine with raw milk. I did finally try the chevre with raw milk, and it didn't work, so wasted a gallon on milk there. I was using the cheesemaking.com chevre direct set culture. I'm thinking it will work if I use a different culture.

    Anna Cummings said:
    That explains why my yogurt didn't turn out. I was thinking my culture was no good anymore. I didn't know I needed to pasteurize it. Also glad I found out to pasteurize before trying chevre. I would hate to waste more milk.



    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
    Size is definitely a difference. The smallest commercial pasteurizer is about 10 or 12 gallons, but that's just the tip of the iceberg for becoming a licensed dairy. If I wanted to sell cheese in Illinois, I'd have to make about a $100,000 investment.

    We don't pasteurize our milk unless we're using it in a recipe that requires it. I've had no luck making raw milk yogurt, so I pasteurize for that. I've never tried chevre without pasteurizing because I've heard it doesn't work. We don't pasteurize for anything else. It's important to realize that pasteurization just means heating it to 145 degrees for 30 minutes or 170 degrees for a second, so if you cook with it, you are pasteurizing by default.

  • That explains why my yogurt didn't turn out. I was thinking my culture was no good anymore. I didn't know I needed to pasteurize it. Also glad I found out to pasteurize before trying chevre. I would hate to waste more milk.



    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
    Size is definitely a difference. The smallest commercial pasteurizer is about 10 or 12 gallons, but that's just the tip of the iceberg for becoming a licensed dairy. If I wanted to sell cheese in Illinois, I'd have to make about a $100,000 investment.

    We don't pasteurize our milk unless we're using it in a recipe that requires it. I've had no luck making raw milk yogurt, so I pasteurize for that. I've never tried chevre without pasteurizing because I've heard it doesn't work. We don't pasteurize for anything else. It's important to realize that pasteurization just means heating it to 145 degrees for 30 minutes or 170 degrees for a second, so if you cook with it, you are pasteurizing by default.


    Adrienne said:
    That's interesting. There are "home pasteurizers" for under $400. Is there a difference other than capacity? I wonder... How many goat people pasteurize the milk from their own goats? The only people I know with goats just drink it raw.

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
    You would have to be a licensed dairy to pasteurize it, and the cheapest commercial pasteurizer costs $15,000 last time I checked.

    Adrienne said:
    In my state it is illegal to sell raw milk, but is it still illegal to sell Pasteurized milk?
  • Thanks!
  • Size is definitely a difference. The smallest commercial pasteurizer is about 10 or 12 gallons, but that's just the tip of the iceberg for becoming a licensed dairy. If I wanted to sell cheese in Illinois, I'd have to make about a $100,000 investment.

    We don't pasteurize our milk unless we're using it in a recipe that requires it. I've had no luck making raw milk yogurt, so I pasteurize for that. I've never tried chevre without pasteurizing because I've heard it doesn't work. We don't pasteurize for anything else. It's important to realize that pasteurization just means heating it to 145 degrees for 30 minutes or 170 degrees for a second, so if you cook with it, you are pasteurizing by default.


    Adrienne said:
    That's interesting. There are "home pasteurizers" for under $400. Is there a difference other than capacity? I wonder... How many goat people pasteurize the milk from their own goats? The only people I know with goats just drink it raw.

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
    You would have to be a licensed dairy to pasteurize it, and the cheapest commercial pasteurizer costs $15,000 last time I checked.

    Adrienne said:
    In my state it is illegal to sell raw milk, but is it still illegal to sell Pasteurized milk?
  • That's interesting. There are "home pasteurizers" for under $400. Is there a difference other than capacity? I wonder... How many goat people pasteurize the milk from their own goats? The only people I know with goats just drink it raw.

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
    You would have to be a licensed dairy to pasteurize it, and the cheapest commercial pasteurizer costs $15,000 last time I checked.

    Adrienne said:
    In my state it is illegal to sell raw milk, but is it still illegal to sell Pasteurized milk?
  • You would have to be a licensed dairy to pasteurize it, and the cheapest commercial pasteurizer costs $15,000 last time I checked.

    Adrienne said:
    In my state it is illegal to sell raw milk, but is it still illegal to sell Pasteurized milk?
  • In my state it is illegal to sell raw milk, but is it still illegal to sell Pasteurized milk?
  • Thanks for sharing the web site. It was very helpful.
  • The USDA and Big Dairy would like you to think it's illegal everywhere. Actually, they WISH it was illegal everywhere! That's what they're working towards, but there are a lot of people fighting on the consumer's side.

    Debbie Fulkerson said:
    Thanks Deborah! Wonder where I got the notion it was illegal everywhere?? Hmmm.
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