Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation to raise the monthly cap on direct raw milk sales for dairy producers.

Senate Bill 2028 raises the cap from 100 gallons to 1,500 gallons per month.

The bill also allows the ability for dairy farmers to advertise their raw-dairy products on their farm.

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Stitt, who is a Republican nearing the end of his second and final term, is a strong supporter of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Health Again movement. He celebrated the bill’s signing in a social media video while drinking a glass of milk.

“To all the raw milk-drinkers out there: Fantastic,” Stitt said. “Tastes like freedom.”

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For months, MAHA backers have elevated raw milk as an almost magical elixir with the power to improve health and combat ailments. The movement also demonizes pasteurization and downplays its importance in public health.

“Under this new law, we’re trusting Oklahomans to make their own informed decisions without government getting in the way,” said state Sen. Jonathan Wingard, who co-sponsored the legislation.

“This will make it easier for consumers to find and support local dairies that sell raw milk. Small family farms are the lifeblood of rural Oklahoma. Raising the sales limit on raw milk and legalizing advertising of this particular product gives consumers the freedom to make their own dietary choices while providing new opportunities for dairy producers to expand their homegrown businesses,” Wingard added.

KOSU shared further:

The bill sailed through the House of Representatives and unanimously passed the full Senate.

Another measure addressing commercial milk did not make it to Stitt’s desk.

Senate Bill 2071 would get the state in-line with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations. It’s a request bill from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry (ODAFF).

Every few years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews ODAFF’s food safety division. In the past two reviews, state agriculture officials said the FDA recommended for the state to align with federal food safety rules regulating milk from all hoofed animals.

Without the change to state regulations, officials said, the FDA could take away Oklahoma’s Grade A status, meaning no milk or milk products could leave the state. But the timeline is unclear.

Bryce Boyer, ODAFF’s director of communications, said the department appreciates the legislature considering the bill and looks forward to the decision from the FDA.

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“This status is what allows Oklahoma milk and milk products to leave the state,” Boyer wrote in an email.

 

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