Raw milk producer Amos Miller is scheduled to appear in Lancaster County Court on Thursday for a hearing on whether to maintain an injunction against him.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Attorney General’s Office say they ultimately want the court to stop Miller from selling raw milk and dairy products without a license, from selling raw milk across state lines. state and avoid milk testing requirements.
Miller’s lawyers say he doesn’t need a license and that the state is going too far. Their defense is both technical and broad, relying on the language of Pennsylvania statutes as well as constitutional protections.
The Agriculture Department searched the Miller Organic Farm in Bird-in-Hand on Jan. 4 after a child from Michigan and another from New York were sickened by E. coli believed to have come from the farm’s raw dairy products. farm.
Initial testing revealed the presence of Listeria, another foodborne pathogen, in bulk tanks, packaged raw milk and eggnog, and the attorney general’s office said it notified Miller on Jan. 16.
Miller’s attorneys, Bradford Geyer and Robert Barnes, say the farmer discovered a problem with a third-party vendor and immediately dropped that vendor.
They also claim the state suspended testing that did not reveal food safety issues until the day before the hearing, and argue the state misled the court when it sought the warrant search.
One of the people cited, sickened by E. coli, was not a member of Miller’s farm, and that type of bacteria was not found in his seized or sampled produce, Miller’s lawyers say.
The attorney general’s office also claims Miller should have registered his business as a food processing and food retail establishment since at least 2014, but he failed to do so.
Miller says he doesn’t sell food to the public, only to a private group. These customers know it is not licensed by the state and want food from such a farm; their right to informed consent in food choice deserves to be protected, lawyers say.
In a quarter century, Geyer and Barnes say, Miller has served more than 10,000 customers, none of whom ever complained about the safety of his food.
Miller submitted 170 pages of customer testimonials claiming that its products helped them with health problems and did not cause them any ill effects.
Public health agencies say clinical research does not support claims of health benefits of raw milk.
Raw story
Miller has been in conflict with state and federal regulators since 2016, when the Food and Drug Administration linked Miller products to two people sick with listeria.
One of the people died, although Miller’s lawyers say that person suffered from advanced cancer and had never drunk Miller’s raw milk.
Miller’s legal battles have made him a cause celebre for critics of government regulation, ranging from conservative commentators to presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., known for his unfounded claims about vaccines.
Geyer, one of Miller’s attorneys, is with the FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation. This is a New Jersey organization made up of former federal employees who believe the government is corrupt and want to combat perceived excesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supporters framed Miller’s conflict as the government harassing a harmless Amish farmer. Indeed, Miller’s defense uses the term “Amish” 18 times in a 29-page court filing.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said Pennsylvania supports farms that sell raw milk, but they must be licensed to ensure food safety.
Regardless, the attention proved lucrative for Miller. A fundraising campaign in his favor had raised more than $244,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
Miller’s supporters are planning a rally at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in front of the Lancaster County Courthouse before the hearing.
