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Producer Dairies

SEA-MC tit. 10, ch. 10.16, subch. II
in effect

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.080 Cows—Health.

10.16.080 - Cows—Health. A. All milk for pasteurization shall be from herds which are located in a modified accredited tuberculosis-free area, as determined by the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, and which have been tested for tuberculosis not more than six (6) years prior to the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter [3] and at least every six (6) years after such test; provided, that herds located in an area that fails to maintain such accredited status, or that has an incidence of bovine tuberculosis in excess of 0.2 percent shall have been accredited by the Bureau of Animal Industry as tuberculosis-free, or shall have passed an annual tuberculin test. All additions to such herds shall be free from tuberculosis. In the case of milk not for pasteurization, all herds and additions thereto shall be tested and found free of tuberculosis before any milk therefrom is sold, and all herds shall be retested at least every twelve (12) months thereafter. The tests and retests shall be made, and any reactors disposed of, in accordance with the latest requirements approved by the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, for tuberculosis-free, accredited herds, in effect at the time of the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter. A certificate identifying each animal, signed by the veterinarian or attested to by the Director, and filed as directed by the Director, shall be evidence of the test specified in this subsection. B. It shall be unlawful to sell, offer or expose for sale any fluid milk or cream designated or represented to be "Grade A" fluid milk or cream with knowledge that such milk or cream has been produced from a herd of cows or goats, one or more of which are infected with brucellosis at the time such milk was produced, or with knowledge that all animals in such herd have not been blood-tested for brucellosis at least once during the preceding calendar year or milk-ring-tested for brucellosis at least semiannually during the preceding calendar year. The results of a test for brucellosis by the State or Federal Laboratory of a blood sample drawn by an official veterinarian, shall be prima facie evidence of the infection or noninfection of an animal or herds, or in lieu thereof two (2) official negative milk-ring tests for brucellosis not less than six (6) months apart may be accepted as such evidence. C. All herds of cows or goats shall be blood-tested for brucellosis annually or milk-ring-tested for brucellosis semiannually. All herds showing any reaction to the milk-ring test must be blood-tested and all reactors to the blood test must be removed from the herd and disposed of within fifteen (15) days from the date they are tagged and branded. The remaining animals in the infected herd shall be retested at not less than thirty (30) day nor more than sixty (60) day intervals from date of the first test. A series of retests, with removal and slaughter of reacting animals, shall be continued until the herd shall have passed two (2) successive negative tests, at the above-mentioned interval, computed from succeeding tests in which no reactors are found. If upon a final test, not less than six (6) months nor more than seven (7) months from the date of the last negative test, no reactors are found in the herd, it shall be deemed a disease-free herd. In the case of milk not for pasteurization, all herds and additions thereto shall be tested and found free of brucellosis before any milk therefrom is sold, and all herds shall be retested at least every twelve (12) months thereafter. Reactors are those animals classified as such by existing or subsequently amended state and federal regulations, copies of which are on file in the City Clerk's Office under Comptroller's File No. 222274. Results of official blood and milk-ring tests shall be conspicuously displayed in the milk house. D. Cows which show a complete induration of one-quarter (¼) or extensive induration in one (1) or more quarters of the udder upon physical examination, whether secreting abnormal milk or not, shall be permanently excluded from the milking herd; provided, that this shall not apply in the case of a quarter that is completely dry. Cows giving bloody, stringy, or otherwise abnormal milk, but without entire or extensive induration of the udder, shall be excluded from the herd until re-examination shows that the milk has become normal. E. For other diseases, such tests and examinations as the Director may require after consultation with State Livestock Sanitary Officials shall be made at intervals and by methods prescribed by him, and any diseased animals or reactors shall be disposed of as he may require. (Ord. 116368, § 207, 1992; Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 1r(part)), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.090 Milking barn—Lighting.

10.16.090 - Milking barn—Lighting. A milking barn, stable or parlor shall be provided. It shall be provided with adequate light, properly distributed, for both day and night milking. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 2r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.100 Milking barn—Air space and ventilation.

10.16.100 - Milking barn—Air space and ventilation. Such sections of the milking barn, stable or parlor, where cows are kept or milked, shall be well ventilated, and shall be so arranged as to avoid overcrowding. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 3r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.110 Milking barn—Floors—Certain animals prohibited.

10.16.110 - Milking barn—Floors—Certain animals prohibited. The floors and gutters of that portion of the barn, stable, or parlor, in which cows are milked, shall be constructed of concrete, or other approved, impervious and easily cleaned material. Floors and gutters shall be graded so as to drain properly, and shall be kept clean and in good repair. No horses, swine, calves, or fowl shall be permitted in the milking barn, stable, or parlor. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 4r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.120 Milking barn—Walls and ceilings.

10.16.120 - Milking barn—Walls and ceilings. The interior walls and the ceilings of the milking barn, stable, or parlor shall be whitewashed or painted as often as may be necessary, or finished in an approved manner, and shall be kept clean and in good repair. Where there is a second story above the milk barn, stable, or parlor, the ceiling shall be tight. If feed should be ground or mixed, or sweet feed should be stored in a feed room or feed storage space which adjoins the milking space, it shall be separated therefrom by a dust-tight partition and door. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 5r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.130 Cow yard.

10.16.130 - Cow yard. The cow yard shall be graded and drained as well as is practicable, and shall be so maintained that there are no standing pools of water nor accumulations of organic wastes; provided, that, in loafing and/or cattle-housing areas, manure droppings shall be removed, or clean bedding added, at sufficiently frequent intervals to prevent the accumulation of manure on cows' udders and flanks. Swine shall not be permitted in the cow yard or milking barn. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 6r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.140 Manure disposal.

10.16.140 - Manure disposal. All manure shall be removed, and stored or disposed of in such manner as best to prevent the breeding of flies therein and the access of cows to piles thereof. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 7r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.150 Milk house or room—Construction and equipment.

10.16.150 - Milk house or room—Construction and equipment. There shall be provided a milk house or milk room in which the cooling, handling, and storing of milk and milk products and the washing, bactericidal treatment, and storing of milk containers and utensils shall be done. A. The milk house or room shall be provided with smooth floor, constructed of concrete or other impervious material, maintained in good repair, and graded to provide proper drainage. B. It shall have walls and ceilings of such construction as to permit easy cleaning, and shall be well-painted, or finished in an approved manner. C. It shall be well-lighted and well-ventilated. D. It shall have all openings effectively screened, including outward-opening self-closing doors, unless other effective means are provided to prevent the entrance of flies. E. It shall be used for no purposes other than those specified above, except as may be approved by the Director; it shall not open directly into a milking barn or stable nor into any room used for domestic purposes; it shall have water piped into it and shall be provided with adequate facilities for heating water to clean utensils; and it shall be equipped with two (2) compartment, stationary, wash and rinse vats, except that in the case of retail raw milk, if chemicals are employed as the principal bactericidal treatment, the three (3) compartment type must be used. The cleaning and other operations shall be located and conducted so as to prevent any contamination of the milk or of cleaned equipment, and shall unless the milk is to be pasteurized, be partitioned to separate the handling of milk and the storage of cleaned utensils from the cleaning and other operations, which shall be so located and conducted as to prevent any contamination of the milk or of cleaned equipment. A sign displaying the text of Section 10.16.620, copies of which may be obtained from the Director, shall be posted in the milk house. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 8r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.160 Milk house or room—Cleanliness.

10.16.160 - Milk house or room—Cleanliness. The floors, walls, ceilings and equipment of the milk house or room shall be kept clean at all times. All necessary means for elimination of flies shall be used. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 9r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.170 Toilet.

10.16.170 - Toilet. Every dairy farm shall be provided with one (1) or more sanitary toilets, conveniently located, and properly constructed, operated and maintained, so that the waste is inaccessible to flies and does not pollute the surface soil nor contaminate any water supply. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 10r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.180 Water supply.

10.16.180 - Water supply. Water for all dairy purposes shall be from a supply properly located, protected, and operated, and shall be easily accessible, adequate, and of a safe sanitary quality. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 11r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.190 Utensils—Construction.

10.16.190 - Utensils—Construction. All multi-use containers, equipment, and other utensils used in the handling, storage, or transportation of milk or milk products shall be made of smooth, nonabsorbent, noncorrodible, nontoxic material, shall be so constructed as to be easily cleaned, and shall be kept in good repair. Joints and seams shall be welded or soldered flush. Woven-wire cloth shall not be used for straining milk. When milk is strained, strainer pads shall be used and shall not be reused. All milk pails obtained hereafter [4] shall be of the seamless, hooded type. All single-service articles used shall have been manufactured, packaged, transported and handled in a sanitary manner. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 12r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.200 Utensils—Cleaning.

10.16.200 - Utensils—Cleaning. All multi-use containers, equipment, and other utensils used in the handling, storage, or transportation of milk and milk products shall be thoroughly cleaned after each usage. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 13r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.210 Utensils—Bactericidal treatment.

10.16.210 - Utensils—Bactericidal treatment. All multi-use containers, equipment, and other utensils used in the handling, storage, or transportation of milk or milk products shall, before each usage, be subjected effectively to an approved bactericidal process utilizing steam, hot water, chemicals, or hot air. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 14r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.220 Utensils—Storage.

10.16.220 - Utensils—Storage. All containers and other utensils used in the handling, storage, or transportation of milk or milk products, unless stored in bactericidal solutions, shall be stored so as to drain dry, and so as not to become contaminated before being used. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 15r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.230 Utensils—Handling.

10.16.230 - Utensils—Handling. After bactericidal treatment, containers and other milk and milk-product utensils shall be handled in such a manner as to prevent contamination of any surface with which milk or milk products come into contact. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 16r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.240 Milking—Udders and teats—Abnormal milk.

10.16.240 - Milking—Udders and teats—Abnormal milk. Milking shall be done in the milking barn, stable, or parlor. The udders and teats of all milking cows shall be clean and wiped with an approved bactericidal solution at the time of milking. Abnormal milk shall be kept out of the milk supply and shall be so handled and disposed of as to preclude the infection of the cows and the contamination of milk utensils. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 17r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.250 Milking—Flanks—Brushing.

10.16.250 - Milking—Flanks—Brushing. The flanks, bellies, and tails of all milking cows shall be free from visible dirt at the time of milking. All brushing shall be completed before milking commences. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 18r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.260 Clean clothing.

10.16.260 - Clean clothing. Milkers and milk handlers shall wear clean outer garments while milking or handling milk, milk products, containers, utensils, or equipment. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 20r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.280 Removal of milk.

10.16.280 - Removal of milk. Each pail or can of milk shall be removed immediately to the milk house or straining room. No milk shall be strained or poured in the barn unless it is protected from flies and other contamination. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 22r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.290 Cooling.

10.16.290 - Cooling. Milk for pasteurization, delivered daily, shall be cooled immediately to sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit, or less and shall be maintained at that temperature as determined in accordance with Section 10.16.060, until delivered; provided, that within five (5) years after the adoption of this ordinance codified in this chapter, [5] all milk for pasteurization delivered daily, shall be cooled immediately to fifty (50) degrees Fahrenheit, or less, and maintained at that temperature until delivered. Milk and milk products not for pasteurization shall be cooled, immediately after completion of milking, to fifty (50) degrees Fahrenheit, or less, and shall be maintained at that temperature until delivery as determined in accordance with Section 10.16.060. Milk for pasteurization, picked up every other day, must be cooled to a temperature of forty (40) degrees Fahrenheit, or less and be maintained at that temperature until picked up. Milk held for every-other-day pickup shall not exceed a temperature of forty-five (45) degrees Fahrenheit upon delivery to a milk plant. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 23r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.300 Bottling and capping.

10.16.300 - Bottling and capping. Milk and milk products not for pasteurization shall be bottled on the farm where produced. Bottling and capping shall be done in a sanitary manner by means of approved equipment, and these operations shall be integral in one (1) machine. Caps or cap stock shall be purchased in sanitary containers, and shall be kept therein in a clean, dry place until used. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 24r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.310 Personnel—Health.

10.16.310 - Personnel—Health. A. The Director or a physician authorized by him, shall examine and take a careful morbidity history of every person connected with a producer-distributor dairy, or about to be employed by one, whose work brings him into contact with the production, handling, storage or transportation of milk, milk products, containers, or equipment. If such examination or history should suggest that such person may be a carrier of, or be infected with, the organisms of typhoid or paratyphoid fever or any other communicable disease likely to be transmitted through milk, he shall obtain appropriate specimens of body discharges and cause them to be examined in a laboratory approved by him or by the state health authorities for such examination, and if the results justify, such person shall be barred from such employment. B. Such person shall furnish such information, submit to such physical examinations, and submit such laboratory specimens as the Director may require for the purpose of determining freedom from infection. C. No person with an infected cut or lesion on hands or arms shall handle milk, milk products, milk containers, or milk equipment. D. Milkers' hands shall be washed clean, rinsed with an effective bactericidal solution, and dried with a clean towel, immediately before milking and immediately after any interruption in the milking operation. Wet-hand milking is prohibited. Convenient facilities shall be provided for the washing of milkers' hands. No person with an infected cut or lesion on hands or arms shall milk cows, or handle milk or milk utensils. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Items 19r and 25r), 1955.)

Seattle Mun. Code ch. 10.16, subch. II, § 10.16.320 Vehicles and surroundings.

10.16.320 - Vehicles and surroundings. A. All vehicles used for the transporation of milk or milk products shall be constructed and operated so as to protect their contents from the sun, from heat, from freezing, and from contamination. All vehicles used for the distribution of milk and milk products shall have the distributor's name prominently displayed thereon. The immediate surroundings of the dairy shall be kept in a clean, neat condition. B. In all cases the milk shall show efficient pasteurization as evidenced by satisfactory phosphatase test, and at no time after pasteurization and before delivery shall the milk have a bacterial plate count exceeding twenty thousand (20,000) per milliliter, or a coliform count exceeding five (5) per milliliter, as determined in accordance with Section 10.16.060; provided, that the raw milk at no time between dumping and pasteurization, shall have a bacterial plate count or direct microscopic clump count exceeding two hundred thousand (200,000) per milliliter. C. The grading of a pasteurized milk supply shall include the inspection of receiving and collecting stations with respect to compliance with Sections 10.16.330 through 10.16.470, 10.16.490, 10.16.510, 10.16.530, 10.16.540, and 10.16.550, except that the partitioning requirement of Section 10.16.370 shall not apply. (Ord. 84106, § 7(Item 26r(part)), 1955.)
Source: City of Seattle, Seattle Municipal Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT10HESA_CH10.16MIMIPR_SUBCHAPTER_IIPRDAFetched: 11/1/2026

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