Small Producers Seek Exemption from Food Safety Bill

Kelli Estrella, a farmer and award-winning Washington cheesemaker, has become a potent symbol in a contentious national debate over the safety of food produced by small farmers and how much the government should regulate it.

Estrella Family Creamery makes artisan cheeses from the milk of 36 cows and 40 goats and sells it at farmers’ markets; some even wind up in high-end restaurants in New York and Los Angeles.

Last month, the FDA moved to shut down Estrella’s creamery after tests found listeria in some of her cheese and she refused to agree to a broad recall of her products.

Although no illnesses have been linked to Ms. Estrella’s cheese, listeria is a sometimes deadly bacteria that is especially hazardous for the very young and the very old.

Issues of food safety and small food producers were at the fore in Washington, DC this week as senators struck a deal that would exempt small producers from some of the rules that would be imposed by a sweeping food safety bill; a vote is expected after Thanksgiving on the long-awaited legislation.