California Milk Standards
California has different bacteriological and nutritional standards for the milk produced and processed in California. They include:
Bacteriological Standards
| Standard | Federal | California | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade "A" Raw Milk for Pasteurization | Bacterial (Standard Plate Count) Limits | Not to exceed 100,000 per ml | Not to exceed 50,000 per ml |
| Somatic Cell Count | Not to exceed 750,000 per ml | Not to exceed 600,000 per ml | |
| Coliform | No Standard | Not to exceed 750 per ml | |
| Laboratory Pasteurized Count | No Standard | Not to exceed 750 per ml | |
| Grade "A" Pasteurized Milk | Standard Plate Count | Maximum 20,000 per ml | Maximum 15,000 per ml |
| Coliform | Maximum 10 per ml | Maximum 10 per ml |
Compositional Standards
| Standard | Federal | California | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade A Pasteurized Milk | Milkfat Minimum | 3.25% | 3.5% * |
| Milk Solids-Not-Fat (SNF), minimum | 8.25% | 8.7% * | |
| Total Milk Solids | No Standard | 12.2% Minimum | |
| Grade A Reduced Fat Milk | Milkfat | Maximum 2.1%
No Minimum |
Maximum 2.1%
Minimum 1.9% |
| SNF, minimum | 8.25% | 10.0% | |
| Grade A Lowfat Milk | Milkfat | Maximum 1.2%
No Minimum |
Maximum 1.1%
Minimum 0.9% |
| SNF, minimum | 8.25% | 11.0% | |
| Grade A Nonfat Milk | Milkfat | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| SNF, minimum | 8.25% | 9.0% |
While our standards may be stricter than the federal standards, this is not meant to imply the federal standards allow for unsafe milk.
* The minimum % of Milkfat and Milk Solids Not Fat required may vary by no more than 0.1%, provided the total combined % of milkfat and SNF ≥ minimum required % TS (12.2).
