LANCASTER, Pa. — Note: The video is from February 29.
A Lancaster County farmer's ongoing battle to sell raw milk products continued this week as a judge decided not to dismiss the state Department of Agriculture's lawsuit against him.
In the first of two orders issued Monday, Lancaster County Judge Thomas Sponaugle denied the request from attorneys representing Upper Leacock farmer Amos Miller to dismiss the state's lawsuit against him. The lawsuit was filed in January after the officials found Miller does not have a permit to sell raw milk and has not registered his business with the state. The inspection was prompted by two illnesses in Michigan and New York that were traced to Miller's products.
Sponaugle also modified an earlier order that prevented Miller from selling any raw milk products. The adjustment to the earlier order states that Miller can only be prevented from selling his products in the state of Pennsylvania.
Miller's attorneys argued that Sponaugle's initial order banning all raw milk sales stretched Pennsylvania's authority too far, as it was an attempt to govern commerce in other states.
With the modification in place, it appears as though Miller will be able to sell his products out-of-state, though federal law requires that milk shipped between states must be pasteurized, and Miller is already limited by a detaining order placed on his products earlier this year by the Department of Agriculture.
Sponaugle also granted a request from Miller's attorneys to order that the owner of millersorganicfarm.com to stop marketing Miller's products. Miller's lawyers claim their client has nothing to do with the website, though the state appears to be skeptical of that claim.
Miller's attorneys now have 20 days to respond to the Department of Agriculture's lawsuit, which was filed on Jan. 23.
Miller has been the subject of numerous efforts at the state and federal level to get him to comply with food safety rules regarding the sale of raw milk products at his farm.
The Food and Drug Administration found listeria in the farm’s raw milk in 2015 after raw milk sickened two people, killing one. Through genetic testing, the FDA identified the strain of listeria as genetically similar to the strain that sickened the people, leading the FDA to conclude that Miller’s milk was the “likely source” of the bacteria.
At the time, Miller told FOX43 his milk was not proven to have caused the illnesses, and that the person who died had pre-existing conditions.
“Her family is very upset that FDA and USDA is using her case to make us look bad,” Miller said.
State and federal officials have accused Miller of showing a “singular, historic willingness to flout democratically enacted federal food safety laws of general applicability.”
Miller was fined $250,000 by a U.S. District Court judge in 2021 for violating a consent decree he signed acknowledging he violated a 2019 injunction ordering him to stop violating food safety laws..