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Title 21, Food and DrugsRelease 119-102

§142 Milk or Cream When Unfit for Importation

Title 21 › CHAPTER 4 — ANIMALS, MEATS, AND MEAT AND DAIRY PRODUCTS › SUBCHAPTER IV — IMPORTATION OF MILK AND CREAM › § 142

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Milk or cream cannot be imported if any of these are true. It is unfit when all cows that made it are sick and none had a physical exam in the past year; when raw milk’s cows did not pass a tuberculin test by an authorized U.S. or local veterinarian within one year; when the farm scores below 50 out of 100 on USDA dairy sanitary cards; when bacteria exceed 300,000/cc for raw milk, 750,000/cc for raw cream, 100,000/cc for pasteurized milk, or 500,000/cc for pasteurized cream; or when the product is over 50 degrees Fahrenheit at import.

Full Legal Text

Title 21, §142

Food and Drugs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Milk or cream shall be considered unfit for importation (1) when all cows producing such milk or cream are not healthy and a physical examination of all such cows has not been made within one year previous to such milk being offered for importation; (2) when such milk or cream, if raw, is not produced from cows which have passed a tuberculin test applied by a duly authorized official veterinarian of the United States, or of the country in which such milk or cream is produced, within one year previous to the time of the importation, showing that such cows are free from tuberculosis; (3) when the sanitary conditions of the dairy farm or plant in which such milk or cream is produced or handled do not score at least fifty points out of one hundred points according to the methods for scoring as provided by the score cards used by the Bureau of Dairy Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture at the time such dairy farms or plants are scored; (4) in the case of raw milk if the number of bacteria per cubic centimeter exceeds three hundred thousand and in the case of raw cream seven hundred and fifty thousand, in the case of pasteurized milk if the number of bacteria per cubic centimeter exceeds one hundred thousand, and in the case of pasteurized cream five hundred thousand; (5) when the temperature of milk or cream at the time of importation exceeds fifty degrees Fahrenheit.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Transfer of Functions

Agricultural Research Service became the successor to functions of Bureau of Dairy Industry under Secretary of Agriculture’s Memorandum 1320, Supplement 4, Nov. 2, 1953.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

21 U.S.C. § 142

Title 21, Food and Drugs

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102