Raw milk now legal to sell in Iowa

Donahue, Iowa (KWQC) - As of July 1, producers in Iowa are permitted to sell unpasteurized milk, along with cheese, ice cream, yogurt, and other raw milk products, directly to consumers.

John Maxwell, owner of Cinnamon Ridge Farm in Donahue mentioned that the demand for raw milk hasn’t been high but says there are people out there who think that raw milk is a good way to go.

“There is a group of folks out there that feel that unpasteurized milk is a good way to go, a good, good thing to have.” Maxwell said.

Maxwell says there is some demand for raw milk, and a new law allowing the sale of it is now in effect in Iowa but he says there are also some safety concerns to consider.

“All milk that you buy in the store is pasteurized,” Maxwell said. “And that pasteurization eliminates all the bacteria that are in it at that time when it does that, and so, it, the safety part is, it is the bacteria could be harmful before the pasteurization.”

Maxwell says the law gives people another option for dairy products, without taking away from their overall goal.

“Overall, it gives them another opportunity for the consumer to buy a product that they would want, and they would want out there,” Maxwell said. “And after all, the farmers’ goal is to feed the world and so however we go about that is trying to be accomplished.”

Maxwell says this could be great, especially for certain farmers in the area.

“This creates another opportunity for those folks out there and I know there’s dairyman, there’s a dairyman by the name of Bill Norton out there by Wilton that it was great for him because he’s a small dairy that wants to have that niche.” Maxwell said.

During the testing process, if the bacteria exceeds legal limits, the producer may not sell that milk or any of its byproducts.

People will have to buy raw milk directly from a raw milk dairy, rather than from the store.

People may not resell raw milk under the law, it has been legal to sell in Illinois since 2016.