Were Minnesota farmer Alvin Schlangen’s eggs unsafe because they were sitting out at room temperature for some hours?
On Day 2 of Schlangen’s criminal trial yesterday, that was one of the key questions under consideration, as Schlangen took the stand in his own defense. One of the charges against him is that the eggs he sells to food club members were kept at temperatures above 45 degrees.
The charge kind of cracked like a thin egg shell when a Minnesota Department of Agriculture agent testified that, no, she hadn’t measured the temperature of the eggs. Moreover, she was relying on dates from the egg cartons Schlangen used as evidence the eggs were quite old. Schlangen testified that, like most smaller egg sellers, he relies heavily on recycled cartons.
Jurors also learned from food club member and defense witness Kathryn Niflis Johnson that eggs in Europe aren’t required to be refrigerated.
The line of the day for the jurors may have come from Johnson as well. When she was asked why the food from Schlangen is so important to her, she stated, “Food is the foundation of health.” One of the six jurors nodded vigorously in affirmation.
From Schlangen’s perspective, that attitude from jurors may be essential in determining his fate. The prosecution has been relentless in pounding home the idea that Schlangen is an unlicensed commercial food dealer; the prosecutor brought in at least half a dozen food producers (like a frozen vegetable producer) who testified Schlangen purchased food from them. In cross-examining Kathryn Niflis Johnson, who is trained as a registered nurse, the prosecutor asked her if she advocated anyone being able to call themselves a nurse, without a license.
She noted that having a nursing license “is a perceived benefit to others, who can see I’ve met certain criterial. In the case of our food, we non’t need or want that…it is restrictive rather than helpful.”
Defense attorney Hansen’s moves to have the case decided in Schlangen’s favor (including the motion I described in my previous post), were dismissed by the judge.
The case should wrap up today and go to the jury.
For another excellent recap of yesterday’s events, take a look at the latest post from food rights lawyer Amy Salberg.
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Might the Minnesota Department of Agriculture finally achieve its decade-long goal of getting raw dairy farmer Michael Hartmann jailed? That possibility seemed to increase, based on this account of the results of a hearing held Monday. The state confiscated a truckload of his food during deliveries, and is arguing he violated his probation rules.
Sounds like the Minnesota regulators are doing us all a favor by pursuing repeated litigation that will bring forth the public opinion even louder and faster than if they had been cooperative or quiet. All this litigation is doing is setting excellent much needed precident and advertizing how completely ignorant and hateful some of these regulators and their goon squads really are.
In laymans words….”we are kicking their asses!!!!!”
Growing up in Portugal on my grandfather’s farm, we didn’t have refrigeration and stored eggs on shelves in a barn before taking them to market. Sometimes after a hot spell you’d walk in and immediately knew there were rotten eggs in there and trashed them, a rotten egg is probably as offensive as tear gas. Ammonia !! I’d like to throw one of those at some of these regulator creeps so that they’d know what dangerous food is.
And a side note: I remember when I worked down in Mexico they had street carts selling eggs in Mexico City, with no refrigeration at all, who knew how old they were? Maybe it should be a requirement of our government regulators and prosecutors to go live in Mexico for a couple of months to gather basic working knowledge before oppressing people that represent the solution instead of the problem.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s news, please keep us posted.
That is an outstanding report from Amy Salberg, thanks for posting the link. Kathryn Niflis Johnson definitely sounds like my kind of people. “Food is the foundation of health” I completely agree with, and now that I’m in the pet food business the way I put it to my customers is “their food should be the medicine. Pay me now, or pay your vet later.” And let them love you back, it’s a two-way thing.
I guess I’m a semi blogger without a license, does that make me a criminal?
He said only “pasteurized eggs” need refrigeration….the ‘ahh-ha” moment has arrived. Who does the goverment serve with their regulations? Look one level deeper. Eggs have their own living immunity and are just fine in normal temperatures for periods of time. UNTIL THEY ARE KILLED DEAD!!
I said “pasteurized eggs CAFO eggs”not pastured eggs!!