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Yes.
Watch the video version of this fact brief by Trisha Young.
The sale of raw or unpasteurized milk generally is illegal in Wisconsin, although “incidental sales” are legal.
An incidental sale is when a dairy farm sells raw milk directly to a consumer at the farm.
But those sales are illegal “if done as a regular business, or if they involve advertising of any kind.”
Robert Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, has indicated he would promote raw milk.
Public health authorities consider raw milk a health danger because it hasn’t been pasteurized — heated enough to kill illness-causing bacteria such as E. coli. But 13 states allow raw milk sales in stores. Advocates say it’s more nutritious, though experts say there isn’t enough evidence to prove that.
A Wisconsin Senate bill introduced in December 2023 would have created licensing for farms that want to sell raw milk. It failed to pass the Senate.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin State Legislature: 2023 Senate Bill 781
- Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection: Raw Milk
- The Hill: Five of RFK Jr.’s most controversial views
- X: Robert Kennedy Jr. post
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Raw Milk
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Food Safety and Raw Milk
- World Population Review: Raw Milk Legal States 2024
- WebMD: Raw Milk: Are There Health Benefits?
- Harvard Medical School: Why drinking raw milk can be dangerous
- Wisconsin State Legislature: Senate Bill 781 history
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