Fairmont Foods Co. v. City of Duluth

110 N.W.2d 155, 260 Minn. 323, 1961 Minn. LEXIS 579
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 16, 1961
Docket38,204
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 110 N.W.2d 155 (Fairmont Foods Co. v. City of Duluth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fairmont Foods Co. v. City of Duluth, 110 N.W.2d 155, 260 Minn. 323, 1961 Minn. LEXIS 579 (Mich. 1961).

Opinions

Nelson, Justice.

Action for declaratory judgment that an ordinance of the city of Duluth is unconstitutional and for an order enjoining the city officials [324]*324from refusing to issue plaintiff a license permitting, it to sell milk in the city.

The court found that the ordinance did not violate the constitution and refused to issue the injunction and thereafter denied in part plaintiff’s motion for amended findings or for a new trial. Plaintiff appeals from that order.

The U. S. Public Health Service developed a model milk ordinance and code for states and communities which Duluth, Minneapolis, and St. Paul have adopted. However, Duluth has amended the model ordinance as follows:

“* * * Provided further, that in section 7, item 1-r, of said unabridged form the abortion-testing requirement currently in force shall continue to remain in force; and that elsewhere in section 7 of said unabridged form the maximum bacterial count allowable for Grade A Raw Milk for Pasteurization as delivered from the farm shall be altered to read ‘170,000 per milliliter’ where it now reads ‘200,000 per milliliter’, and the maximum bacterial count allowable for Grade A Pasteurized Milk shall be caused to read ‘25,000 per milliliter’ where it now reads ‘30,000 per milliliter’: * *

The ordinance further imposes the obligation of procuring a license upon those selling milk. It establishes a system by which those who apply for a license are to file with their applications the exact address and air-mile distance between each farm on which the milk furnished them is produced and the city hall of the city of Duluth. The director of public health of the city of Duluth is required to make not less than two inspections per year of the farm facilities of each producer. For each producer who is within a 40-air-mile radius of the city hall, $7.50 per year must be paid by each licensee to cover expense of inspections. The cost to a licensee increases with the distance from the city hall, the minimum license fee being $250.

Plaintiff raises three basic issues on his appeal which we regard as follows: (1) The aforementioned ordinance and licensing provisions violate Minn. Const, art. 1, § 7, and U. S. Const. Amend. XIV; (2) the ordinance is contrary to the authority granted by Minn. St. 32.30; (3) it violates other provisions of the model milk ordinance and code as adopted by the city of Duluth.

[325]*325In regard to the first issue, we believe that the Duluth ordinance is unconstitutional. In State ex rel. Larson v. City of Minneapolis, 190 Minn. 138, 139, 251 N. W. 121, this court stated:

“Under its police power a state or its municipalities may enact statutes and ordinances for the welfare and health of its citizens. Such a statute or ordinance, however, must be reasonable and not arbitrary; must not invade the fundamental liberties of the citizen; must, on the one hand, tend to accomplish the purpose of its adoption; and, on the other, must not go beyond the reasonable demands of the occasion. The burden of showing that an act is arbitrary and unreasonable is on the complaining party.”

The specific provision of the ordinance under question here is the requirement that the maximum bacterial count allowable for Grade A raw milk be 170,000 per milliliter, whereas under the model milk ordinance and code, adopted by Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth, as amended, provides for a maximum bacterial count for Grade A raw milk of 200,000 per milliliter.

In addition to the inspection of the producer farms at least twice each year, the Duluth authorities under the ordinance are required to test 4 samples of milk from each farm in each 6-month period. Under the more rigid requirement, the Duluth authorities do not accept the test as administered by the Minneapolis or St. Paul health department; and consequently the plaintiff here must pay the license fee in accordance with the ordinance.

It appears that plaintiff purchases its raw milk from two cooperative associations, Twin City Milk Producers Association and Land O’Lakes Creameries. A total of 2,587 farms supply these associations. The milk is commingled when delivered to pool stations in the area, consequently the suppliers to plaintiff could be construed to include the total number of farms supplying both associations from which plaintiff purchases its milk. It was stipulated that the average distance from the city of Duluth of the farms supplying the Twin City Milk Producers Association is 148 miles and of the farms supplying the Land O’Lakes Creameries, 100 miles. It is readily apparent that under the circumstances the annual .license fee in accordance with the formula in the ordinance would be rather high.

[326]*326We believe that the controlling point in this case is whether or not there is a justifiable reason in the interest of public health for the requirement of a lower bacterial count. A review of the record indicates that the difference between a 170,000 and 200,000 bacterial count per milliliter is without significance to public health.

Two expert witnesses testified that the difference between a 170,000 and 200,000 standard has “no public health significance.” The city of Duluth contends that the 170,000 test would presumably give notice of improper conditions on the farm prior to the 200,000 test. However, in view of the procedures used in arriving at this test and the action taken when the amount is exceeded, we do not regard this as of sufficient public-health significance to validate the ordinance. First, at least four samples of raw milk are taken every six months. When the logarithmic average of the last four consecutive counts is greater than the maximum, the producer is sent a warning letter. Following the sending of the warning letter, a fifth sample is taken and, if it falls below the maximum established, the producer remains a shipper of Grade A milk. In the light of the evidence with regard to public-health significance and in view of the procedures followed, we do not believe the proposition advanced in support of the 170,000 limitation is sufficient to justify its imposition under the police power of a municipality.

No claim has been made that the milk, as inspected under the Minneapolis and St. Paul ordinances, is unwholesome. Accordingly, the more rigid requirement exceeds the police power of the city of Duluth in that it goes beyond the reasonable demands of the occasion.

In view of the foregoing decision, it is immaterial whether or not we are involved with interstate commerce and the degree to which it is burdened. However, under the circumstances it is clear that interstate commerce is involved where some of the milk is from Wisconsin producers and it is all supplied from within a Federal marketing area. United States v. Wrightwood Dairy Co. 315 U. S. 110, 62 S. Ct. 523, 86 L. ed. 726; Baldwin v. G. A. F. Seelig, 294 U. S. 511, 55 S. Ct. 497, 79 L. ed. 1032.

Economic factors such as price are secondary to the protection of the health and welfare of citizens. Baldwin v. G. A. F. Seelig, supra.

[327]*327Defendants cite Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison, 340 U. S. 349, 354, 71 S. Ct. 295, 298, 95 L. ed.

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Bluebook (online)
110 N.W.2d 155, 260 Minn. 323, 1961 Minn. LEXIS 579, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fairmont-foods-co-v-city-of-duluth-minn-1961.