For several years, raw milk advocacy has been trickling into the mainstream. From fringe blog sites to state legislatures, proponents tout alleged health benefits and downplay the risk. Even as highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in dairy cattle this year has shown the importance of pasteurizing milk for consumer safety and confidence, it has ironically drawn more attention to raw milk, which is seeing rising consumption. And with a raw milk advocate nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the issue is receiving new attention.

National dairy groups are united: Raw milk consumption poses serious potential health risks, and milk for public consumption should be pasteurized. But milk safety is a never-ending discussion, and it’s against that backdrop that a bedrock of consumer safety and industry cooperation, the Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), turns 100 years old this year.

The PMO, along with the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS), is a cornerstone of the United States producing the safest, most nutritious dairy products in the world. The PMO was a game changer in reducing the risk of foodborne illness associated with dairy products, providing a model milk regulation program with uniform safety requirements that states could voluntarily adopt.

Alabama was the first state to adopt the milk ordinance in 1924, and support for the ordinance spread across the country. Today, the PMO is updated every other year through the NCIMS, which will be held next April in Minneapolis, Minn.

The biennial NCIMS event is a model for collaboration, bringing together federal public health officials, the Food and Drug Administration, state officials, and the dairy industry. It focuses on a more effective and efficient system of regulating the interstate shipment of milk products. One key issue sure to come up will be the H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle. Proposals for any issue or topic area to be considered at the conference are due in mid-January.

The National Milk Producers Federation and its members remain committed to keeping milk safe and accessible to Americans, even as food safety discussions evolve. Feel free to reach out to info@nmpf.org with any questions. And when the discussion moves to Minneapolis this spring for NCIMS, we will be prepared.