William Mitchell College of Law student Rebecca Coobs prepared this post.
On January 31, 2011, Minnesota dairy farmer Michael Hartmann appeared in a Sibley County courtroom for a Contempt of Court charge that was filed about one month after the court approved an embargo on his unpasteurized food products. When Minnesota Department of Health officials went to Hartmann’s farm to exercise a condemnation order for the embargoed food, they discovered that the embargoed food had disappeared from the Hartmann Farm. The food was embargoed in the summer of 2010 when Minnesota Health Department studies revealed Michael Hartmann’s unpasteurized milk and other products were to blame for 15 people falling ill with E. Coli and campylobacter infections.
Michael Hartmann has a history of regulation violations and with the most recent Contempt of Court charge, some are calling for criminal charges to be brought. So far, criminal charges have not been filed against Hartmann.
More about the Hartmann case is available on the Winona Daily News website.
In addition, in September of 2010, Minnesota Senators Klobuchar and Franken cosponsored the Food Safety Accountability Act (Senate Bill No. 3767) that is currently pending on the Senate’s legislative calendar, to increase the penalty for a person who knowingly contaminates the food supply. Such an act is currently a misdemeanor but the legislation would change the classification to a felony and penalize violators with a fine, imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both.
Thanks, Rebecca!
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