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RALEIGH — Raw-milk advocates on Wednesday overcame the first hurdle in their quest to block a rule requiring the addition of gray dye to unpasteurized pet milk.

Rep. Pricey Harrison’s bill, which passed the House’s Agriculture Committee and now faces the Health Committee, would prevent the state Department of Agriculture’s dye rule from taking effect in July.

The rule is intended to prevent illegal human consumption of the unpasteurized milk.

"In this case, I think we have heavy-handed government bureaucracy at its worst," said Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat.

Harrison said the rule unfairly penalizes farmers, who will have difficulty selling dark-colored milk.

She said raw-milk consumers also are concerned because there is no available form of organic gray dye.

The committee voted to move the bill to the health committee despite concerns from agricultural department representatives and the Carolina/Virginia Dairy Products Association.

These speakers said that raw milk is associated with many food-borne illnesses and that the dye rule would prevent people from drinking it illegally.

"Your first obligation is and should be health protection," said Glenn Jernigan, who represented the dairy association. "That’s what this rule is about."

Contact Emily Stephenson at 373-7080 or emily.stephenson@news-record.com