Hawaii Raw Milk Laws & Regulations

Hawaii is one of the few states that has not yet opened a pathway for raw milk sales. Only Grade A pasteurized milk and milk products may currently be sold to the final consumer or to restaurants, with no retail, on-farm or herdshare route available. Reform bills have been introduced repeatedly and the question remains live at the legislature.

Is raw milk legal in Hawaii?

Not at present. The framework sits in Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 328 and Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 11 Chapter 15 (Milk), administered by the Department of Health, which limits consumer sales to Grade A pasteurized product. Because the restriction attaches to the product reaching consumers rather than to a missing permit, there is no licence a producer can currently apply for.

Personal consumption is a separate matter. Nothing prevents an owner from drinking milk from their own animals, and small-scale household dairying is practised on all the main islands.

Reform efforts

Momentum has been building incrementally. In 2022 HB2028 was amended in committee to legalise the sale of raw goat milk for pet consumption and cleared the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee by 8 votes to 2, the same indirect pathway that several mainland states now use. Further bills including HB1989 in 2024 have kept the issue in front of legislators. Advocates point to Hawaii's strong local food movement, established goat dairying tradition and the cost of shipping mainland milk as arguments for a regulated framework, and the national trend is running toward expanded access, with more than 40 pro raw milk bills introduced across 18 states in the current session.

What is available

Raw milk cheese is legal in Hawaii and throughout the United States under the federal 60 day aging rule, and aged raw milk cheeses are stocked by specialty grocers, cheese counters and natural food stores across Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. This is the most accessible raw dairy in the state today.

Hawaii also has an active small-farm and homestead community, and goat keeping is well established, so households wanting raw milk generally pursue their own animals. For the federal framework and the states where sales are permitted, see the United States raw milk laws overview.