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Legalizing Natural (untreated) Milk in Ontario

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Last update: August 19, 2010

On January 21, 2010, Michael Schmidt won at court. He was acquitted of 20 charges related to selling and distributing raw milk. His cow-share program was found to be a legal way that consumers could obtain a legal product (raw milk). However, on February 11, 2010, the government appealed his acquittal.

In the words of Tom VanDusen in the Eastern Ontario AgriNews, "In this case, it was big agricultural business backed by big government trying to keep a lock on the sacred milk marketing system."

This statement is true because you can make raw milk for people by adopting a different set of higher production standards than currently approved and in use. But the DFO has never researched these standards nor submitted them for approval. They want to keep things just the way they are, which is in direct violation of their own charter. By law, the DFO must supply consumers with any and all viable dairy products. Therefore, we are researching an action against the DFO under the Provincial Offences Act for violating the Milk Act for their refusal to research procedures for raw dairy products and for failing to submit them for approval.

This website is dedicated to researching and promoting raw drinking milk for Ontario consumers. For a good summary of the issues and links, click on Wikipedia.

If you have any comments or suggestions: Send us a comment.

What's New:

  • On June 24, 2010, our lawyer was in the Ontario Court of Justice to argue a motion regarding Michael Schmidt's appeal to include Charter arguments for consumers. The judge set a future date of October 21, 2010 to try this motion. The judge also set a future date of August 30, 2010 for other housekeeping matters, one of which was to seek a consensus whether the appeal could be split between cow-sharing and charter issues, as was done in the lower court.

  • On February 11, 2010, the government appealed Michael Schmidt's acquittal. Click here for the text. No date for the appeal has been set.

  • On February 8, 2010 our lawyer sent a request to meet with the new Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Carol Mitchell. She didn't even respond. Click here.

  • On January 21, 2010, Michael Schmidt won at court. He was acquitted of 20 charges of selling and distributing raw milk. His cow-share program was found to be a legal way for consumers to obtain a legal product, specifically raw milk. Click here for the judge's decision.

  • On December 9, 2009, Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, refused to meet with our lawyer to discuss the issue of raw milk for consumers. Click here.

  • On December 2, 2009, we launched the paper version of our Ontario Raw Milk petition. For a Word version click here and for a .pdf version click here. If you live in Ontario, make copies and spread it around - YOU CAN HELP! This petition conforms to the rules set out by the Ontario Legislature (click here) and consequently the Legislature will be required to file a response to the petition within 24 sitting days.

  • On November 17, 2009, the litigation director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Karen Selick, LL.B., announced their support and representation for our cause. Click here.

  • On October 30, 2009, we activated an online petition for Ontario residents, since we are working with a lawyer to ensure that if the petition is ignored by the Ontario authorities, legal proceedings can be started to compel them to perform their statutory duty. Click here or on .

  • In Fall 2009, researched filing an “information” under the Provincial Offences Act against the DFO for violating its own charter to supply consumers with every dairy product they would otherwise have in a free market, and against the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission, the DFO’s regulator.

  • On August 31, 2009, Michael Schmidt’s trial judge announced that he would release his decision on January 21, 2010. He would first rule on the legality of cow sharing and if Michael wins this, he would not then rule on the Charter issues.

  • On January 26, 2009, Michael Schmidt's trial commenced, testing the legality of cow sharing and the Charter rights of producers (not consumers) of raw drinking milk.

  • On November 26, 2008, petitioned the court to intervene in the upcoming trial of Michael Schmidt, to argue the Charter issues for Michael and to bring a counter-claim against the DFO. The court refused.

  • Sent an information request to the Premier of Ontario to clarify government policy, prior to either engaging the ombudsman or taking action against the DFO. Click here.

  • Health Canada is preparing to amend the Food and Drugs Act to include the new Quebec regulations on raw milk cheese. Health Canada did not want to admit that the new category of safe raw milk contained therein was safe enough to drink raw, which it has to be. We challenged them on this. Click here.

  • On July 30, 2008, Quebec announced a new category of raw milk - safe enough for the production of all raw milk cheeses, not just those aged for at least 60 days. This ends the Canadian debate on the safety of raw milk for direct human consumption. Click here to see the new regulations and go to Division 11.6.

  • Attended Michael Schmidt's pre-trial hearing on June 4, 2008. Although this case is about "cow sharing", there are many overlapping issues with "official recognition". We therefore presented a draft Petition for Intervener Status to the prosecuting lawyers and the media.

  • Reconnected with the Federal Department of Health and the way is still open for a safety assessment of raw milk, provided somebody gives them something to look at. Click here.

  • Began the documentation to escalate the issue by formally asking the DFO to initiate the process for a second set of dairy production practices for Raw Drinking Milk. They refused to meet with us, so we escalated to their governing body, the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission who also refused to help. Alerted the Ontario Ombudsman. Click here.

  • Two people die in Massachusetts from listeria in milk that was properly pasteurized. Click here. So much for the process of pasteurization which is supposed to eradicate listeria and which is the only process approved in Ontario to make milk safe,

  • Spoke to Rejean Bouchard of the Dairy Farmers of Canada on January 4, 2008 about them persuading the DFO to change their position of November 1, 2007. Click here. I was advised no, and to proceed with a complaint to the Competition Bureau if I wanted.

  • November 21, 2007 was the first anniversary of the raid on Michael Schmidt's farm. A press conference and demonstration was held at Queen's Park. I spoke at the press conference as the consumer advocate along side Michael, Randy Hillier, MPP and Judith McGill, a cow share owner.

  • Before the press conference, I requested the DFO's support for the right of individuals to purchase raw milk directly from a dairy farmer, provided appropriate health controls are implemented. On November 1, 2007, the DFO Board refused. Click here.

  • After the press conference, Premier McGuinty said the best advice he's received is that unpasteurized milk is unsafe. However, his own senior bureaucrats have told me the only impediments to implementing a raw milk regime are funding and the optics of now allowing something you once said was harmful. It's obvious McGuinty is listening to the DFO's self-serving rhetoric and trying to grab dairy farmer's votes with his strategy rather than serving the needs of the people.

  • My partner has noticed that drinking raw goat milk makes her breasts larger and firmer and when she stops they go droopier. In June, 2007 she spoke to another lady who recently started drinking raw cow milk who confirmed the breast enlargement. Michael Schmidt opened up his network for a larger study of the issue.

  • In April 2007, attended the second meeting of the Food Rights Alliance, a large group of individuals interested in legalizing raw milk and in helping Michael Schmidt with his legal defence.

  • In March, 2007, the raw milk portfolio was shifted to a new manager in the Ontario government who pointed out that the Ontario mandatory pasteurization law is contained in a statute (rather than a regulation) and it would require a motion of the Ontario legislature to change. We agreed nothing politically was likely to change before the next election because the Ontario legislature recently voted down Bill Murdoch's private members bill to examine raw milk. This brings to a dead end all our efforts to seek a change through the bureaucracy. We must now turn activist.

  • Spoke to the RPA in England about their milk quota system. Unlike Canada, they have two quotas - wholesale and direct. Wholesale quota is like what's here in Canada where a farmer sells to a dairy rather than to consumers directly. In England, raw drinking milk is only sold direct and amounts to a miniscule one one-hundredth of one percent of all milk sold. I think we can safely go forward in Canada with a direct sales model and rightfully request a quota exemption.

  • Spoke to the food safety unit of the Ontario Dept. of Health in January, 2007 about setting up a second milk supply system for safe raw milk. They are interested in a proposal showing how it can be managed from a food safety perspective. We are preparing it now. Have also begun to lobby the Ontario Dept. of Agriculture to obtain a quota exemption.

  • December 11, 2006, Dave Hope, the chair of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission advised they are accountable to the government and must thereby conform with government policy against raw milk.

  • December 7, 2006, Premier McGuinty’s government votes down Bill Murdoch’s private members bill to examine and debate the raw milk issue.

  • If you want raw milk, vote Green!  Click here for their December 6, 2006 press release.

  • We were interviewed on CBC radio, December 1, 2006. Click here

  • November 28, 2006, the DFO advised their Board turned down raw milk as a new product because they do not believe it can be made safely. Therefore, considering to meet with the Board.

  • November 21, 2006, Michael Schmidt’s farm is raided drawing front page media coverage and politicizing the process. Click here and click here to read the summons. Note: (1) Michael is charged with operating a milk plant without a licence, not for producing and selling raw milk; (2) the case is Regina vs Schmidt - Regina (Queen Elizabeth) not only drinks raw milk, she sells it to the public at her Windsor Farms; (3) the emblem for Grey County where the court is, says, "Beautiful...Naturally" yet they want to ban "natural" milk and force us to drink an adulterated and artificially vitaminized version.

  • The Ontario Dairy Sheep Association president declines to continue with a novel foods application. We approach the DFO and request their decision on raw milk as a niche market product.

  • Teamed with the President of the Ontario Dairy Sheep Association to develop a raw milk submission to Health Canada as a "novel food" application.

  • Advised the Dairy Farmers of Ontario they had ill-advised us 4 years ago to go and change the health laws in order for them to bring raw milk to market. This is their job, not ours.

  • On September 13, 2005, met with Health Canada staff to clarify structuring the most expensive part of our resubmission – the lab tests. Click here for a summary.

  • On May 13, 2005, Health Canada provided us with a framework for resubmission. We are now coordinating our efforts with the Weston A. Price Foundation to develop a resubmission document.

  • At our request, we met with Health Canada on April 4, 2005. Click here for a summary. We now understand what they need and we have a tentative roadmap for success.

  • On October 17, 2004, Health Canada issued their response and rejected our request. On December 14, 2004, we countered back. Click here.

  • On February 3, 2004, a Program Manager at Ontario Ministry Of Agriculture And Food verbally confirmed it's legal in Ontario to sell raw milk for animal consumption. The label should be, "For Pet Consumption Only, Unpasteurized." Click here for the emails.

  • To better reflect our goals, we changed our old domain name www.raw-milk.com to www.naturalmilk.org in August 2003.

  • Our Health Canada Submission, March 19, 2003 and its 1-page Briefing Summary.

  • See our story on CTV!  Click here and then click on the video icon once the CTV news page comes up.

If you have any comments or suggestions: Send us a comment.

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