Monday, March 22, 2010

To Date or Not To Date....

.....that is the question on alot of peoples minds at the moment. Since 1980 Montana has required that all milk containers be stamped with a 12 day sell-by date. Recently the Montana Board of Livestock has been asked to drop this rule. The proposal calls for the 12 day sell-by date to be replaced by a date chosen individually by the milk processors. There would no longer be a standardized sell-by date in Montana.

As you can imagine this has sparked quite the conversation/debate. Some see the 12 day sel-by date as a way to keep out of state milk from entering the state and being sold. Some say it's a way to control the competition. Some say the sell-by date protects the costumer. The dairy industry states the sell-by date is a way for them to ensure they are delivering a good product to the customer.

The Board of Livestock took up the proposal (submitted by Core-Mark International Inc.) at a hearing earlier this month and it was continued until April 26. Both sides will file legal briefs and then the hearing officer will makes recommendations to the board.

The push to change the sell-by date seems to be the latest battle between Core-Mark and the Department of Livestock. In 2008 the department ordered several convience stores to quit selling lower-priced milk that was bought from Washington state.

To read the whole story go here.

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