WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |Raw milk hearing
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Eau Claire, WI (WXOW) - It's controversial, but the topic of conversation Wednesday in Eau Claire.
Close to 500 people attended a hearing at the Chippewa River Technical College, about raw milk.
In Wisconsin it is illegal to sell unprocessed milk. However it is not illegal to have raw milk or consume it.
This bill which is working its way through the State Legislature would allow some farmers to sell raw milk.
Farmers from as far as Arkansas shared their stories about the role of a dairy farmer and the nutritional value their product provides, which they say is lost during the pasteurization process.
Margo Redmond said, "If you have ever drank raw milk which many of you said you have then you know what it taste like and you know why we want it, why we crave it."
Some people argued they should have the right to choose what they consume.
(R) State Senator Dan Kapanke said, "It's up to the consumer and I always use the phrase "buyer beware" we hear that all the time and no body is forcing anyone to buy raw milk here what we are doing is giving people if this legislation passes an opportunity to sell raw milk and buy raw milk if you choose but no bodies forcing that on anybody."
Others including health experts explained how raw milk is a health issue.
And the fear that if unpasteurized milk is allowed to be sold possible outbreak would jeopardized Wisconsin's $26-billion dairy industry.
Randy Romenski said, "If there is an outbreak from the consumption of raw milk which there have been and some of them can be serious that people don't hear that the outbreak was from raw milk and they hear the outbreak was from milk or dairy products."
25 states allow the sale of raw milk including California where it sold on store shelves.
