Organic Pastures Dairy v. California
Plaintiffs Organic Pastures Dairy Company, LLC and Claravale Farm, Inc. (hereafter, plaintiffs) are the only California producers of raw milk sold to consumers. Plaintiffs filed an action against defendants State of California and A.G. Kawamura, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (collectively hereafter, the State), in which they challenged the constitutionality of Food and Agriculture Code section 35781, subdivision (a)(1),[1] which was amended effective January 1, 2008, to require that raw milk sold to consumers contain no more than 10 coliform bacteria per milliliter of milk.[2] Coliform bacteria are a group of bacteria that includes species that come from the intestinal tract of animals. In this appeal, plaintiffs challenged the trial courts order denying plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction staying enforcement of the 10-coliform bacteria standard imposed by section 35781, subdivision (a)(1) prior to trial. The trial court denied injunctive relief on the ground that plaintiffs were not likely prevail at trial in their constitutional challenge because there is a rational basis for the 10-coliform bacteria standard: the Legislatures intent to make raw milk products safer for consumers by monitoring the adequacy of dairy sanitation. For the reasons stated below, we will grant plaintiffs motion to dismiss the appeal, which they filed shortly before the date the case was calendared for oral argument.
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