State Says 'Embargoed' Raw Milk Missing

GAYLORD, Minn. (AP) -- State officials want a southern Minnesota dairy farmer accused of selling E. coli-contaminated unpasteurized milk found in contempt of court.

The Minnesota Agriculture Department says Michael Hartmann has ignored department and court orders banning the sale or use of hundreds of food items at his Gibbon area farm.

Minnesota Public Radio News reports that when inspectors went to the Hartmann farm last week, they found most of the embargoed food which Hartmann was supposed to be storing had disappeared. A judge had upheld the embargo last month and ordered the food be destroyed.

In a statement to the Star Tribune through a spokesman, Hartmann says he denies "either knowingly or intentionally violating any court order."

Hartmann said he will respond to the state's allegations in court.

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