COLUMBUS, Ohio — A pair of Ohio Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would legalize the sale of unpasteurized milk. Doctors warn that raw milk causes foodborne illnesses, and the product is banned for a reason.
The Everson Jersey Dairy Farm gets visitors from a hundred miles away for their milk.
"It’s gone up probably 110% in people coming here," Owner Jamie Everson said. "We have families that come every week, an hour and a half away, to come get milk."
Everson has 40 milk cows on her Northeast Ohio farm, where she gets her products tested every few days and sends them to large dairy companies. However, she says visitors really want one thing.
"There are always people calling and looking for raw milk," she said.
Selling raw, unpasturized milk is illegal in Ohio, which Dr. Anita Somani, a Democratic state representative from Columbus, said is for good reason.
"In the simple case of food poisoning, you may end up with diarrhea, dehydration, nausea and vomiting," Somani said. "But if you're a young kid, if you're an elderly person, if you're immunocompromised, those bacteria can be life-threatening."
An OB-GYN, Somani warns her patients about the risks that E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria can have during a pregnancy, which includes stillbirths. The Ohio Department of Health and the CDC back her warnings.
"Listeria is one that for pregnant women can be very, very, very damaging to the fetus," the doctor said.
But there is a loophole.
Everson is able to provide raw milk with her herdshare program. Through an agreement, consumers can purchase a “share” of the cow, allowing them to obtain the raw product.
"You're gonna purchase part of a cow in the herd, which is 14% of one of our cows, [it] makes a gallon a week," Everson said. "So you purchase the cow for so much money and then you pay a monthly boarding fee."
Another legal way to sell raw milk is if the retailer says it is for pets.
"If you do it the proper way, you can't really get in a whole lot of trouble," Everson said.
But state Rep. Kellie Deeter (R-Norwalk) said this process could be improved, and wants to legalize raw milk for farm-to-consumer.
WATCH: Learn more about House Bill 406
"We're just trying to help regulate the folks that are already doing it and actually make it healthier, not unhealthier," Deeter said.
She and state Rep. Levi Dean (R-Xenia) introduced House Bill 406, which requires liability waivers for raw milk sales and establishes guidelines for monthly testing of food-borne bacteria and diseases, such as listeria.
"If you test milk today, does that mean that a week from now that bacteria hasn't grown?" Somani asked rhetorically. "The point of pasteurizing and sterilizing milk is to prevent bacteria from growing."
Florida health officials report a recent E. coli outbreak stemming from raw milk has made about two dozen sick, including six children, and seven of the 21 ill are hospitalized. Somani said this is why pasteurization is so important.
"I don't think there's anything that's foolproof, now, but it would certainly be better than the way it's currently being done without regulation," Deeter said.
Deeter said she is communicating with the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Dairy Association — ones who "weren't excited," she said — to create a safer environment for the growing raw milk market.
She credited MAHA, Make America Healthy Again movement, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to an increase in awareness of the unpasteurized product. RFK Jr., who leads the U.S. Health and Human Services Department is not a doctor and is criticized by Somani for being anti-vaccine.
"We have legalized marijuana in the state of Ohio, so I don't think it's unreasonable to legalize raw milk for the consumer in a very narrow lane in a regulated fashion where it is actually safer for folks than I think that it might be currently unregulated," Deeter said.
Everson said that some people aren't as stringent as her on the rules, and this could give consumers more choices.
"People wouldn't be so nervous about even asking," Everson said.
Somani said that science moves humanity forward, and she doesn't want to move backward.
"From a purely evidence-based decision-making process, I think it's a mistake to try to legitimize raw milk," the doctor said.
The bill will be heard in the coming months.
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