Freeport farmer probed for selling raw milk

For the second time in eight months, a Freeport-area farmer is being investigated by state agriculture regulators for allegedly selling raw milk and other food products illegally.

Alvin Schlangen was believed to be selling raw milk, which by law can only be sold directly from farms, from a south Minneapolis natural food warehouse and at a drop-off point on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul near Macalester College, according to a search warrant affidavit recently filed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

Schlangen also has allegedly been selling other food without a license, according to the Agriculture Department. Schlangen, an organic egg grower, said he is also the manager of a private food club that leases animals that provide fresh milk, cream and butter for its members. He said he did not break any laws.

"Our [Minnesota Department of Agriculture] does not recognize our right of access to the foods of our choice," he said in an e-mail Monday. "It is time for [Minnesota] consumers to stand up for their rights and stop settling for nutrient deficient, subsidized commodity food."

Raw milk is unpasteurized, meaning it hasn't been heat-treated to kill pathogens. Most public health authorities discourage the consumption of raw milk, and its sale in Minnesota is restricted to the farms at which it's produced.

Last spring, raw milk from Michael Hartmann's dairy farm in Gibbon was linked to an outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 that sickened four people.

According to the affidavit, Schlangen does not have his own dairy operation, but buys milk from dairy farmers and then resells it.

Last June, the state accused Schlangen of selling raw milk from the same south Minneapolis natural food warehouse, as well as illegally selling custom-slaughtered meat. In a June administrative meeting with state regulators, Schlangen was told to discontinue both practices, the affidavit said.

In December, during an inspection of his farm, regulators found that he was selling food without the proper license, and told to halt that practice, too, the affidavit said.

Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003