The fresh milk lawsuit refers to an incident that happened a few years back in which a New York dairy farmer was shot by one of his employees. As per the victim’s lawyer, the shooter should have known better that he had to kill the dairy farmer because he was selling too much milk. According to reports, the shooter kept on saying ‘fresh milk’ as he killed the farmer. The dairy farmer was simply trying to sell off his produce to the customers when he was killed. This incident has led to numerous protests across the country.
In the past few months, fresh milk has become a hot topic of discussion. Farmers are opposing the lawsuit by demanding that the government protect them from frivolous lawsuits. They feel that they should not be harassed by such lawsuits and they do not feel the need to provide the government with the information of how much milk they produce.
But the fresh milk lawsuit is moving ahead regardless of what the farmer’s lawyers say. Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court has confirmed that the fresh milk manufacturers would be allowed to sell unpasteurized milk. Earlier, the FDA had banned the sale of fresh milk. The manufacturers of raw milk are now allowed to sell it under the brand name ‘Organic Valley’ but must display the phrase ‘gourmet blended raw milk’ at the same place where they sell regular milk.
This means that people who buy that kind of product can sue the company for selling something that is harmful to their health. If the company is found guilty in such a case, they may end up paying heavy fines. Such lawsuits have been common in the past and are also likely to increase in the near future. The lawsuit is likely to see several more rounds of legal skirmishes.
It is believed that more than twenty different lawsuits have already been filed across the country. Many of them have been directed towards the exact identical situation that the farmers are in. Farmers are claiming that they were let down by the FDA when they were allowed to sell unpasteurized raw milk without any warning about the possible dangers associated with it. The FDA failed to regulate the issue properly and the result was disastrous for the farmers. A fresh milk lawsuit may be the solution that the FDA was waiting for in order to bring the fresh milk legal situation back into line.
The FDA is expected to release another set of guidelines this year that it hopes will improve the fresh milk lawsuit situation. The farmers are not willing to wait and are fighting back by asking the FDA to ban all milk products, including those that come from grass-fed cows. If the FDA follows through on its threat, you could soon find yourself buying fresh milk from a cow that has been given antibiotics.
