Dr. Alexander “Mack” Schmidt and the 1973 Federal Pasteurization Rule
The first federal pasteurization requirement for milk sold across state lines was finalized in October 1973, three months after Dr. Alexander “Mack” Schmidt became Commissioner of Food and Drugs. It took effect for most raw milk in December 1974, while certified raw milk stayed exempt for another thirteen years. The full interstate ban that applies today, 21 CFR 1240.61, came in 1987. Raw milk sales within a state have always been governed by state law, and 44 of 51 US jurisdictions allow some legal access today, as shown on the raw milk law map.
Who was Mack Schmidt?
According to his FDA biography, Alexander McKay Schmidt was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1930 and earned his medical degree from the University of Utah in 1955. He taught at the University of Utah College of Medicine, worked as an administrator of the Regional Medical Program at the National Institutes of Health from 1967 to 1968, and then held a deanship at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago.
HEW Secretary Caspar Weinberger appointed him Commissioner of Food and Drugs in July 1973. He served until November 1976, a tenure that also included the ban on red dye no. 2, the early over-the-counter drug review and the push for medical device legislation. He returned to the University of Illinois as vice chancellor for health affairs and died in 1991.
The 1972 proposal
The pasteurization requirement started as part of a broader update to federal milk standards before Schmidt arrived. In the Federal Register of September 9, 1972 (37 FR 18392), FDA proposed revised standards of identity for milk and cream products under section 401 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The proposal included a requirement that each listed product be pasteurized.
A standard of identity defines what a food must be to carry its name. Under this approach, packaged milk shipped across state lines without pasteurization would not meet the federal definition of “milk” and would be misbranded.
The 1973 final rule
On October 10, 1973 (38 FR 27924), during Schmidt’s first months as Commissioner, FDA published the final rule. It included the requirement that fluid milk products moving in interstate commerce be pasteurized. FDA’s stated reasoning was that pasteurization was the only way to assure the destruction of pathogens that might be present.
Certified raw milk is exempted in 1974
FDA received one request for a hearing, and it came from the certified raw milk sector. Certified raw milk was produced under the stricter methods and standards of the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions. Its producers argued that certified raw milk was safe and that a standard of identity, which is meant to define a food, could not be used to impose a requirement purely for health reasons.
In the Federal Register of December 5, 1974 (39 FR 42351), FDA agreed that the objections raised a substantial question and stayed the pasteurization requirement for certified raw milk pending a hearing. The requirement became final for all other milk. From December 1974, packaged raw milk shipped across state lines was considered misbranded unless it was certified raw milk.
The stay remained in place until 1987, so certified raw milk stayed legal in interstate commerce through the rest of Schmidt’s tenure and for more than a decade after he left FDA.
The road to the 1987 ban
In April 1984, the Health Research Group of Public Citizen petitioned the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ban all raw milk sales nationwide, both interstate and intrastate. When the agency had not acted, the group sued. In Public Citizen v. Heckler, a federal district court in Washington, DC, ruled in January 1985 that the delay was unreasonable. FDA denied the petition in March 1985, and the group sued again. On December 31, 1986, the court ordered a rule banning interstate sales of all raw milk, certified and noncertified, and in early 1987 it gave the agency 180 days to complete the rulemaking. The court found no indication that a ban on intrastate sales was necessary, so state authority over sales within each state was left in place. The case history is recounted in the 1987 final rule.
FDA published the proposal on June 11, 1987 (52 FR 22340) and the final rule on August 10, 1987 (52 FR 29514). It took effect on September 9, 1987. On the same day, FDA ended the 1974 stay for certified raw milk.
How 1973 and 1987 differ
| 1973 rule (in force 1974) | 1987 rule | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Standards of identity, section 401 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act | Communicable disease control under the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264), with adulteration provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act |
| Where it sits | 21 CFR Part 131 (milk and cream standards) | 21 CFR 1240.61 (control of communicable diseases) |
| Certified raw milk | Exempt from 1974 | Included |
| What triggered it | FDA’s own update of milk standards | A court order in Public Citizen v. Heckler |
Neither rule covers sales within a state. The 1987 rule also does not apply to raw milk shipped to plants for pasteurization or to products with their own federal procedures, such as cheeses cured under 21 CFR Part 133.
What it means today
Because the federal rule stops at state lines, each state decides how raw milk can be sold within its borders. The raw milk law timeline tracks those state decisions alongside the federal rules. Members of Congress have repeatedly proposed letting raw milk move between states that both allow it, most recently the Interstate Milk Freedom Act of 2026, introduced as H.R. 7880 on March 9, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Did Alexander Schmidt ban raw milk?
No. A final rule published in October 1973, early in his tenure, required pasteurization of milk sold across state lines, but certified raw milk was exempted in 1974. The ban on all interstate raw milk sales came in 1987, eleven years after Schmidt left FDA.
When did interstate raw milk sales become illegal?
For most raw milk, in December 1974, when the federal pasteurization requirement in milk standards took effect. Certified raw milk remained exempt until the 1987 rule, 21 CFR 1240.61, took effect on September 9, 1987.
Does the federal ban stop states from allowing raw milk sales?
No. Federal law covers raw milk in packaged form for consumers moving across state lines. Sales within a state are governed by that state, and most states allow some form of legal access.
What was certified raw milk?
Raw milk produced under the methods and standards of the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions. It was exempted from the federal pasteurization requirement in 1974 and included in the 1987 interstate ban.
