The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is investigating a second farm in connection with the illegal sale of raw milk.
The Schlangen Family Farm near Freeport in Stearns County also appears to be improperly selling meat and frozen produce, according to a search warrant affidavit. The Agriculture Department last week searched the organic farm, seizing business records and embargoing the sale of some of its products.
The search comes after an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 last month linked to raw milk produced at the Hartmann Dairy Farm near Gibbon. Eight people including several children were sickened, a number of whom were hospitalized. Milk distributed by Schlangen wasn't involved in that outbreak.
Raw milk isn't pasteurized, a process that kills harmful bacteria. Minnesota law allows only occasional sales of it at farms where it's produced. But the Agriculture Department is looking into whether Hartmann and Schlangen were involved in selling raw milk in the Twin Cities and elsewhere.
The investigation of Schlangen grew out of an inquiry into Traditional Foods Minnesota, a south Minneapolis natural foods outlet. It shut down earlier this month after the state Agriculture Department began looking into food licensing issues.
During a June 15 inspection at Traditional Foods, the state found raw milk that was being distributed by Schlangen, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Alvin Schlangen, the farm's owner, said the raw milk at Traditional Foods had already been paid for by customers. "It's a pickup location." Schlangen said he doesn't produce the milk, but distributes it for another farmer whom he declined to name. It's not Hartmann, he said.
"The Department of Agriculture is trying to eliminate the supply of raw milk to the marketplace," Schlangen said.
Another Minnesota source of raw milk, Kalisch Farm, has dried up since the state began investigating Hartmann. Kalisch's website, which touts raw milk and other organic products, says, "We are currently closed for business."
Raw milk consumers are a small but passionate lot who believe the product is healthier than traditional milk, though public health authorities say the opposite. Raw milk drinkers are part of a growing movement of people who prefer eating natural, locally grown foods.
Schlangen, whose staple product is organic eggs, caters to this market. He is a co-owner of Minnesota Traditional Foods and also sells food at the Midtown Farmers Market in south Minneapolis.
In the affidavit, the state accuses Schlangen of the resale of wholesale produce without a license. And it says Schlangen appears to be selling meat while not participating in a mandated government inspection program.
Schlangen said he's just connecting consumers directly with their food. "I've been doing this direct delivery for seven years, and now all at once it's an issue."
Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003
