Now the confusion over dates on milk cartons is headed for court. Core-Mark, which distributes milk in Washington state and Montana, is seeking an injunction in U.S. District Court to keep Montana from enforcing its milk-dating regulations, according to court documents. The first hearing is scheduled for Oct. 3.
“We're standing around a little slack-jawed as to what Montana's up to,” said Steve Rowe, vice president of legal and public affairs for Darigold Inc. of Seattle. He said Darigold is also seeking the injunction. “This is the only state where we've dealt with this.”
But after prodding from Montana milk producers, the state Department of Livestock began enforcing regulations requiring removal of milk from shelves if the cartons contained both the Washington and Montana dates. Montana requires that Grade A milk be sold within 12 days of pasteurization; Washington state recommends that milk be used within 21 days.
Store owners are pushing back in an attempt to keep the cheaper milk in stock.
Milk and Eggs Bureau Inspector Dan Turcotte arrived at the Helena Thriftway Super Stop on Aug. 27 to make sure the milk cartons there were in compliance with the regulation.
But the store manager refused to comply with the inspection and called Helena police to force the inspector to leave, said Livestock Department spokesman Steve Merritt, who arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.
“The situation in Helena, it was really funny. The cop got out of the car, big and burly, and said, ‘Milk? I don't know anything about that. I'm going to have to call the (county) attorney,' ” Merritt said.
The officer told the store manager that she should comply with the inspector's orders, said Helena Police Chief Troy McGee.
Rowe said the Montana Department of Livestock is taking advantage of Montana consumers.
“This dating thing has nothing to do with the safety of this product,” Rowe said, “or for the quality of this product.”
Lacey Kaufman, who was buying milk at Missoula's Orange Street Food Farm earlier this week, said the dual dating had confused her in the past. She also said she supports local foods and doesn't mind paying more for Montana milk. Hailing from Glendive, she said that since large retailers moved into the area, the town has shrunk.
“I came from a really small town, and it's getting smaller and smaller because people are supporting the big corporations,” she said. “So I definitely support ‘buy local.' ”
Rowe said his company has tried everything their equipment allows to remove the Washington date and comply with this regulation, including using an FDA-approved compound to remove the offending date.
This has not been enough, he said, accusing the Montana Department of Livestock of favoring Montana milk producers. He said there are no safety concerns for Darigold's milk, and no reason for it to be pulled from store shelves in Montana.
“It's really not worth a lot in terms of money,” he said. “But it's worth a lot in terms of Darigold's reputation in Montana.”
At Gilly's Gas on Third Street in Missoula, owner Justin McKay said the Washington date now appears smudged off. He was initially told by Core-Mark, which distributes milk in Washington and Montana, to black the date out with a marker, but then the inspector told him that wasn't good enough.
A letter regarding the alteration of dates was sent from Turcotte, the milk inspector who is also the Milk and Egg Bureau chief, to Core-Mark on Sept. 11. It states that it is “not allowable to remove or alter a sell-by date code once it has been applied by the processor.”
McKay said an inspector came back the other day and disapproved of the smudged Washington date, but said it was acceptable. McKay did not think the regulation made any sense, saying that it seems milk is “magically good for another nine days” as it crosses Lookout Pass into Idaho.
Rowe said the sudden enforcement of this regulation has caused confusion among retailers who have been allowed to sell this milk with no problems for the past six years.
So Thriftway's corporate office in Butte has instructed stores not to comply with this regulation, said company spokeswoman Pat Roylance.
“We have instructed our stores that we are not breaking the law,” Roylance said. “We have a letter that our stores all have in their possessions that says dual dating is allowed.”
Roylance is referring to a 2002 letter sent from former Milk and Egg Inspection Bureau Chief Todd Gahagan to Kevin Gerhart, general manager of Inland Northwest Dairies, which is now owned by Darigold. The letter granted an exception to the dual dating prohibition. This letter is also posted on the milk case door at Ole's gas station on Orange Street in Missoula.
But Merritt said this was only a provisional agreement, and the distributor who supplies the milk to Thriftway, Core-Mark, knows this. Merritt provided a second letter dated Jan. 25, 2008, addressed again to Inland Northwest Dairies, rescinding the 2002 agreement.
“If you and I have an agreement to mow my lawn,” Merritt asked, “is this agreement forever?”
Mark Heulskamp, president of Core-Mark's Spokane division, said his company could not and would not continue to sell milk in Montana if not allowed to use dual dating. The double stamping means that if a day's orders from Montana fall short, the milk set aside will not have to be re-dated, but can immediately go on shelves in other states.
Heulskamp said his company is being given the runaround by the Montana Department of Livestock. He said they have done everything they can to comply with Montana law.
“Right now, the milk being sent out does not contain the 21-day date,” he said. “But that is not good enough for them.”
He accused the state of trying to keep cheap Washington milk out of Montana so the Montana milk producers could continue selling expensive $4-per-gallon milk without competition, and that the agreements initially made with Core-Mark and Inland Northwest Dairies are not being honored.
“How would you feel if you invested $3 million and then were told to forget it?” Heulskamp asked.
Neither side has provided evidence as to which date is better for consumers.
Montana's 12-day sell-by date is not for safety, but to maintain the freshness of the milk, Merritt said. “The taste and freshness does degrade,” Merritt said. “I can't find any science saying it is unhealthy, but we're concerned about freshness.”
Reach Missoulian intern Mark Page at 523-5259, or mark.page@missoulian.com.
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Tana Oyler wrote on Sep 17, 2008 1:11 PM:
" We have been distributing Meadow Gold products since my grandfather sold his cows in the late 1950s. If you think out of state companys will continue to sell milk cheaper when the Montana dairy farmers and producers are out of business you should think again. With the cost of fuel do you want to depend on Washington for your milk. I think not. People will actually reach to the back shelf to get 1 or 2 days fresher date on milk and yet buy the cheaper long dated milk not knowing what is going on. Montana milk producers can not compete when the playing field is not level. Oh, yeah, right, Im sure all those stores black out or remove the longer date and wouldn't consider selling it. If this is all fine with you, who knows, maybe we could soon get cheaper milk from China. "
Mark Mencel wrote on Sep 17, 2008 2:54 PM:
" Montana has every right to set its own date rules, even if it is only for the sake of protecting Montana producers. Nothing says that out of state producers can't sell milk in Montana, but they need to follow Montana law to do so. If they can't do that, then too bad. "
Pat wrote on Sep 17, 2008 2:54 PM:
" Having grown up in Washington state and still having most of my family member's living there, I can tell you that the milk they purchase is just as fresh and wholesome as the milk here. The difference? The price Montana families are forced to pay for a gallon of milk.
No one is looking to put Montana dairy producers out of business, but should Montana families pay for thousands of gallons of milk being tossed down the drain every week because they have only 12 days to sell it verse 21 in all the other states? It's no exaggeration to say you are paying for all that dumped milk when you take a gallon home for breakfast. "
No one is looking to put Montana dairy producers out of business, but should Montana families pay for thousands of gallons of milk being tossed down the drain every week because they have only 12 days to sell it verse 21 in all the other states? It's no exaggeration to say you are paying for all that dumped milk when you take a gallon home for breakfast. "
linda wrote on Sep 17, 2008 2:57 PM:
" I want to know why Montana milk producers produce milk with a sell by date with 21 days and shiping out of state cheaper. It sounds like they only want milk to go one way in montana and we are paying for the gas to get it to other states. "
Justin wrote on Sep 17, 2008 4:32 PM:
" Not getting the point. "Montana Milk" is sold outside of montana with 21 day dates and at a cheeper price than what a Montana retailer and purchase. The customer who mentioned shopping local is right on the button. Shopping local is great. However your local company is sending the product out of state and charging less. Shouldnt that be turned around? Your local stores should have a chance to compete with the box store. The only reason they can charge so much more is because the dating is only 12 days and drive the price, waste, and demand.
Quick Note, the Dariy Gold milk that had duel dating :
Had MT Dates on it and was pulled from shelves based on MT dates.
Then the state said that consumers in MT are not smart enough to read two dates????? "
Quick Note, the Dariy Gold milk that had duel dating :
Had MT Dates on it and was pulled from shelves based on MT dates.
Then the state said that consumers in MT are not smart enough to read two dates????? "
Faith wrote on Sep 17, 2008 5:40 PM:
" Come on people we have been ripped off for the many years that this practice of "12 day" dating has been use. This is not rocket science but a supply and demand in combination of a supplier that has been able to be the sole supplier of a product we all use.
If you need to supply a product every 12 days you increase the demand more so than 21 days. Not to mention the needless waste. We all want a product to be a quality product and the rest of the consumers in the US would not purchase the "21 day" milk if it was an inferior product. Additionally no one can show that it has affected any of the people by purchasing 21 day dated milk.
"Freshness" come on, are you serious; no one can drink a glass of milk and tell the difference between 4 day milk and 15 day milk kept at the correct temperture. That is ridiculous! "
If you need to supply a product every 12 days you increase the demand more so than 21 days. Not to mention the needless waste. We all want a product to be a quality product and the rest of the consumers in the US would not purchase the "21 day" milk if it was an inferior product. Additionally no one can show that it has affected any of the people by purchasing 21 day dated milk.
"Freshness" come on, are you serious; no one can drink a glass of milk and tell the difference between 4 day milk and 15 day milk kept at the correct temperture. That is ridiculous! "
Rick wrote on Sep 17, 2008 8:25 PM:
" Our milk prices have increases substantially the last few years. The cows producing milk in Washington are no different than Montana cows so why can they sell their milk cheaper. Trying to keep competition out of Montana is just another way to safeguard the current price gouging that is going on in our state by the dairy corporations. The consumers need the competition. All other businesses in the state have to deal with competition why not the dairy industry. "
Rick wrote on Sep 17, 2008 8:28 PM:
" Our milk prices have increases substantially the last few years. The cows producing milk in Washington are no different than Montana cows so why can they sell their milk cheaper. Trying to keep competition out of Montana is just another way to safeguard the current price gouging that is going on in our state by the dairy corporations. The consumers need the competition. All other businesses in the state have to deal with competition why not the dairy industry!? "
Rebecca wrote on Sep 17, 2008 11:24 PM:
" After doing some research, I find that the reason MT can't get gallons of organic milk into the State is because of the 12-day sell-by date when most other States list a 21-day use-by date. As a conscientious consumer, I enthusiastically support the 21-day labeling in MT so that myself and others may have access to healthy, sustainable options at a reasonable price. "
Melia wrote on Sep 17, 2008 8:44 AM: