What You Need to Know About Raw Milk Laws in Tennessee

A Guide to Raw Milk Laws in Tennessee

Of all the United States, Tennessee has done little to encourage its food producers to sell raw milk directly to consumers. In fact, there is no legal status for sales and purchases of raw milk by Tennessee farmers and consumers.
Although state laws can begin with a legal ban on some activity, they usually can not include a government registration process to legally compel an activity. The usurpation of a Constitutionally granted right is a federal problem, but Tennessee has not yet taken a direct approach to expanded raw milk sales.
According to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, raw milk is "milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized." In dairy parlance, raw milk has not been heat treated. Because those who own cows in Tennessee are required to sell the milk they produce to a licensed processor before they can sell it to consumers.
Farmers in Tennessee and across the country say they believe more fresh milk is being sold directly to consumers who see the value in buying fresh, unprocessed food. But some states have passed laws or are pursuing laws prohibiting the sales of raw milk, and litigation has been responsibility for much of the movement.
Both local and federal health regulations to prohibit sales of raw milk are still being challenged by consumer and food activists. The push back on laws restricting raw milk sales has been coming from raw milk producers, retailers, consumers, private membership food clubs, and others.
States like California, North Carolina Wisconsin have legalized limited sales of raw milk through retail stores, on farm sales, deliveries , and in cooperative arrangements. Farmers hope to enjoy more options for getting their product to market and providing customers with fresh, unprocessed raw milk.
Although Times Free Press reporter Tom Sherlin observed that raw milk has been sold illegally in grocery stores in the Memphis area, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture was not taking any chances. Its officials have been raiding stores and confiscating the product.
Sherlin also reported that other recent raids were either on stores that had sold raw milk through co-ops, or stores thought to be selling such products but may have not. Sherlin also pointed out that most Tennessee consumers will not likely develop a taste for raw milk anytime soon.
"Oh, I’d never do that. It’s full of germs," the Free Press quoted one woman after sampling raw milk from farmer Abram Jamison, who was raising Gianna and Sydney more than 100 cows on his Clarke County Dairy at the time of the interview.
U.S. Department of Agriculture says that the consumption of raw milk can cause serious health risk caused by consumption of pathogens such as Listeria, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Yersinia, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Coxiella burnetii.
Raw milk is not legal to sell in Tennessee, even as part of a share in a cow. It is also illegal to sell to consumers at retail outlets. Raw milk can be labeled for pet use only, but it can’t be sold because of USDA regulations.
In addition to the state’s raw milk ban, the Tennessee Raw Milk Coalition, consisting of 60 farming practice members from 23 counties, said the state Department of Agriculture has postponed issuing permits under the raw milk regulations.

History of Raw Milk in Tennessee

To understand the current legal status of raw milk in Tennessee, it is essential to examine its legislative history. Raw milk’s path to legality in the state has been a long one, marked by shifts in public perceptions and scientific understanding of its benefits and risks. In 2009, the Tennessee House passed a bill legalizing the sale of raw milk at farmers markets by a 94-1 vote, reflecting a broad consensus that consumers should have the right to purchase raw milk from licensed farmers. In 2019, however, the Tennessee Department of Health added a stipulation to the raw milk law requiring consumers to obtain a license to bring the raw milk home, shifting the regulatory burden onto those who may be least equipped to understand the complexities and risks of raw milk consumption. Around this same period, Ohio State University published statements about the health risks of consuming raw milk, generating significant media attention and further complicating the dynamics around raw milk consumption in Tennessee and the rest of the country. Consequently, Tennessee lawmakers have maintained a cautious stance even as raw milk advocates push for greater access and rights surrounding the product. A law passed in 2012 effectively legalized cow shares in the state, a financial arrangement where the owner of a cow pays a farmer to maintain a cow for the owner’s personal use. Although this law was seen as a major win for raw milk advocates at the time, moving raw milk from a niche market to the mainstream has proven to be a more gradual process. As awareness about the health benefits associated with raw milk grows, Tennessee is slowly shifting away from its historically prohibitive laws and toward a more permissive regime that allows consumers greater access to raw milk. This reevaluation of the raw milk debate is an ever-evolving process, and one that is likely to continue as the raw milk community in Tennessee pushes for further legal reforms.

Raw Milk Exceptions and Allowances

In Tennessee, there are a few exceptions and allowances for the consumption and distribution of raw milk. While the sale of raw milk for human consumption is generally prohibited, raw milk purchased for pasteurization may be legally sold within the state, as long as it is delivered to a processing plant within 72 hours of being sold.
Herd share agreements are also permitted in Tennessee. A herd share agreement allows a person who owns a portion of the herd (such as a cow or goat) to receive a portion of the herd’s raw milk in exchange for contributing to the upkeep of the animal.
Farm-to-consumer sales of raw milk are allowed, although these sales must take place on the farm where the animal resides and the area where the raw milk is distributed to consumers must be in accordance with all other applicable local, state, and federal requirements.
Farmers are also permitted to offer raw milk "samples for educational purposes" as long as the samples are offered at the farm or at fairs, health fairs, roadside stands, student engagement programs, and non-profit farm tours.

Raw Milk Health and Safety Protocols

While raw milk advocates argue the benefits, mainstream and official public health agencies have issued dire warnings about the risks associated with drinking raw milk. In fact, in 2014, the CDC published a report that included an extensive literature review and a modeling study that found that consumption of contaminated unpasteurized milk had been responsible for 127 outbreaks from 1993 through July 2009. Further, the CDC estimates that 2 percent of the 97,600 illnesses from contaminated foods in the United States every year could be traced to consumption of unpasteurized milk. The Minnesota Department of Health has also issued a warning against drinking raw milk due to health concerns.
Most members of the public are unaware of the complex process of preventing foodborne illnesses from pathogens before they reach the consumer’s table. For raw milk, which is milk that has been obtained from a cow, goat, sheep, or other animal, without pasteurization, the risk increases. On its website, the Centers for Disease Control reports that in order to destroy pathogenic bacteria that can cause human illness, raw milk must be heated to specific temperatures:

• 145 °F for 30 minutes (vat pasteurized)
• 161 °F for 15 seconds (high-temperature short-time pasteurized)
• 191 °F for 1 second (equivalent to 280 °F for 1 second)

However, during this process, raw milk is also subject to contamination by other bacteria, allergens and chemical residues found in the animal’s environment and feed. It is possible that some raw milk producers and consumers are not serious enough about the dangers and risks of raw milk consumption to make sure the raw milk they are consuming is pathogen free. The infective doses of the bacteria discussed below are extremely low, and so it is necessary to be vigilant about concentated contamination of raw milk.
The following is a summary of the bug risks and preventative measures.
Campylobacter – raw milk is a well-documented vehicle of this pathogen, responsible for febrile diarrhea, muscle pain, and headaches in humans.
E. Coli – ingestion causes bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and sometimes fever, can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome leading to kidney failure, can cause long-term complications and even death.
Salmonella – consuming even a tiny amount of raw milk may cause fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea that may be bloody, nausea, headache, and vomiting, can lead to inflammation of blood vessels, septic arthritis, meningitis or even death.
Listeria – causes flu-like symptoms such as fever, spiking temperatures, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and in late-stage pregnancy, may cause miscarriage or stillbirth.
Yersinia – causes fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and might lead to inflammatory bowel disease later on.
Staphlylococcal enterotoxin – causes the rapid development of severe nausea and vomiting.
Campylobacter is endemic in cattle, particularly dairy herds, and it has been a number one human foodborne pathogen in the United States since 1982. According to a Minnesota health department publication, the cooling process does not control Campylobacter bioburdens, which suggests the pathogen may not be eliminated during the separation process.
Cases such as the one in California, involving severe hospitalization and tragically, death of a certain Raw Milk proponent in 2018, because of Salmonella in raw milk, should make all of us cautious and vigilant about any risks of human illness associated with foodborne pathogens in raw milk.

Raw Milk Public Opinion

Advocacy groups are pulling in vastly different directions over the issue of raw milk. As state legislators continue to introduce bills either loosening regulations on raw milk or strengthening the enforcement of prohibitions, public support for raw milk is being organized into a coalition of advocacy groups arguing its merits.
On one side of the scale is the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF). The 2010 NTU Digest ranks raw milk as the fifth-highest priority and says the FTCLDF has enlisted the American Civil Liberties Union and state affiliates of the National Rifle Association in a legal battle against state-level raw milk bans. According to a FTCLDF statement, "The FTCLDF has filed five state-by-state lawsuits to have the right to distribute wholesome food products on lawful private property with minimal government interference." FTCLDF is a nonprofit, which according to its website, is "allied by members providing legal assistance to Family Farms, allowing them to sell raw milk and other good wholesome foods directly to the public . " David Gumpert is the publisher of the Weston A. Price Foundation’s journal, Wise Traditions, and author of "The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights".
On the other end is advocacy group KeepRawMilkLegal.org, based out of Lakewood, Wash., which claims to be a consumer-driven group advocating for the right to choose raw milk. "Under the Raw Milk Law in Washington State, the Board of Health was created to encourage consumer input and assure public participation regarding public health concerns about raw milk," says the group’s website. "The [Washington State] Board has been functioning in a corrupt and illegal manner to essentially put raw milk farmers out of business and to deny consumers the rights they had already been granted regarding raw milk." Raw Milk Freedom USA is another advocacy group that promotes the consumption of raw milk and supports farmers in the United States who produce raw dairy products.

Legal Implications of Raw Milk in Tennessee

Violating raw milk laws in Tennessee can result in civil fines and, if warranted, criminal charges. The penalties that apply depend on the scope of the violation and the language used in the statute.
Criminal and Civil Penalties
The most severe penalties for selling raw milk without a permit include a class C misdemeanor for the first violation (up to 30 days in jail or $50 fine) and a class B misdemeanor for every violation after the first one (six months in jail or $500 fine). Because a raw milk distributor is not a consumer, but rather a business entity, the farmer or dairy partnership will be subject to civil penalties for any and all violations. As of July 1, 2016, a person who manufactures, sells, offers for sale or distributes raw milk without a permit is therefore liable for a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) for each violation. Each violation shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
Other notable sections of the Tennessee Code Annotated include § 53-7-120, which lists the tonsils, adrenal glands, glands furnished by slaughtered animals, rat hairs, birds, insects, mold, fungus, slime, yeast, rodents, feces, pus, "animals" (no definition provided), the "great potential to spread disease," and "other unsanitary, unwholesome poisonous, deleterious or otherwise harmful substance or substances" as undesirable elements prohibited in food. The statute does not specifically call out the sale or distribution of raw milk, but an argument could be made that it applies. It is an interesting statute that could lead to an effort to exclude raw milk from the definition of food in order to make it eligible for sale or distribution via a retail marketplace. The Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act lists "poisonous, adulterated, unsafe, misbranded, unwholesome or unsound food" as unfit for human consumption (Tenn. Code Ann. § 53-1-103). However, a recent case states that a raw milk distributor does not qualify as a retailer under § 53-1-125 as it would not ordinarily conduct retail sales (State v. Shores & Sons Dairy, No. T141423, at *8 (Tenn. Crim. App. Apr. 21, 2016)). This same distributor was also charged under § 57-4-101 (the provision governing lottery), which made them eligible for prosecution as an illegal lottery (alternatively, see § 7-51-301). Another article in our series addresses whether raw milk is in fact fit for human consumption.

Tips for Finding Raw Milk in Tennessee

Consumers who wish to legally access raw milk in Tennessee must take care to ensure that all state provisions are followed. Below are several tips to follow: Look for reputable sources. Consumers should visit the Tennessee Department of Health’s website for a list of approved dairies where raw milk is available. Many raw milk dairies also sell other products such as yogurt and butter, and these items are also illegal to ship across state lines. Share the assets. Consumers may wish to consider creating a cow or goat share agreement with a local raw milk producer . Through this type of arrangement, consumers purchase ownership in a portion of the milk-producing animal in exchange for its milk. In this way, dairies can distribute raw milk legally. Refrigerate. Once raw milk is in possession, it must then be refrigerated as soon as possible and always kept at below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Verify legality. Finally, if a consumer in Tennessee plans to travel to another state that allows the interstate sale of raw milk, it is important to verify whether the consumer’s destination state accepts shipments from Tennessee’s dairies.