Minnesota Farmer Convicted of Criminal Charges

ST. CLOUD, Minn.A farmer has been fined $300 and given a year of probation after a jury of six convicted him of five criminal charges in connection with a volunteer delivery service.

Alvin Schlangen was actually fined $1,000 and given a 90-day jail sentence. However, the jail sentence and $700 in fines were suspended provided he complies with one year of probation, according to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, which provided support in Schlangen's defense.

The farmer is said to have offered a volunteer delivery service to members of a private buying club (Freedom Farms Co-op), which included delivering raw milk to them from other farms.

Schlangen was charged with operating without a food handler's license, storing eggs at temperatures above the mandated 45 degrees, distributing adulterated or misbranded food, violating a food embargo and selling custom processed meat, according to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

The sentence could have been worse. Schlangen faced up to $5,000 in fines and 15 months in jail, according to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

Nathan Hansen, a lawyer representing Schlangen, told the St. Cloud Times he will consider an appeal.

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund said Schlangen was acquitted nearly a year ago on charges alleging that he violated the state food and dairy code.

According to the St. Cloud Times, Schlangen has resisted demands from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture that he obtain a license, refrigerate eggs, and package and label his food accurately.

In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized a rule that is designed to prevent thousands of illnesses and dozens of deaths each year from consumption of eggs contaminated with Salmonella Enteriditis. The requirements for industry compliance with the regulations were phased in over a 3-year period based on the number of laying hens in each operation.

About a year ago, a final group of egg producersshell egg producers with at least 3,000 but fewer than 50,000 laying henswere required to comply with FDA's Egg Safety Rule. The rule requires egg producers to have preventive measures in place on the farm during the production of shell eggs and subsequent refrigeration during storage and transportation.