Two Pennsylvania State Police vehicles can be seen at the Upper Leacock Township farm of Amos Miller on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Miller is an Amish farmer who has resisted following federal food safety regulations. State police said troopers were there to provide security for Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture employees who were serving a search warrant.
Dan Nephin / LNP | LancasterOnline
Dan Nephin / LNP | LancasterOnline
Two Pennsylvania State Police vehicles can be seen at the Upper Leacock Township farm of Amos Miller on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Miller is an Amish farmer who has resisted following federal food safety regulations. State police said troopers were there to provide security for Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture employees who were serving a search warrant.
A Lancaster County judge has ordered Amish farmer Amos Miller and his various business entities to stop producing and selling raw milk and products made with it, citing “immediate and irreparable injury.”
Judge Thomas Sponaugle’s order Wednesday granted a request by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, which Tuesday sued Miller to get him to stop selling raw milk and other unregulated products, claiming he is endangering public health.
Sponaugle had initially scheduled a hearing for Friday morning over how long the order should remain in effect, but that’s since been changed to Feb. 29. His order remains in effect at least until the hearing.
The order also directs Miller and his business entities to allow the state Department of Agriculture to inspect records and test products.
Miller also must notify his customers that two cases of food-borne illnesses have been traced to his products, and he must notify customers that raw milk samples collected by agriculture officials during a Jan. 4 search tested positive for listeria.
Listeria is among the bacteria that can be found in raw milk that cause foodborne illnesses, including diarrhea, cramps, kidney failure and, in rare cases, death.
The attorney general’s suit, filed on behalf of the Agriculture Department, also accuses the Upper Leacock Township farmer and the businesses he operates of violating several state laws aimed at food safety.
Miller has not registered his business with the state, does not have a permit to sell raw milk and has other alleged violations.
As in the lawsuit, the injunction request cites Miller’s long history of opposing state and federal food safety regulations dating back at least a half-dozen years.
Miller came to the attention of federal authorities in 2016 after the Food and Drug Administration said it identified listeria in samples of Miller’s raw milk and found it to be genetically similar to the bacteria in two people who developed listeriosis — one of whom died — after consuming raw milk.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
