AUGUSTA - In an effort to persuade members of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee to pass a bill that would put a "Maine Fresh Milk" label on milk produced and sold in Maine, a former panel member went restaurant-hopping Wednesday.

Former state Sen. Marge Kilkelly bought milk at five area fast-food restaurants, lined up the bottles for the committee, and read the labels to them.

Only one of the five was selling milk from Maine dairy farmers: Dunkin’ Donuts.

Milk at Kentucky Fried Chicken was imported from Florida; milk at McDonald’s comes from Illinois; Subway milk was trucked in from Arizona; and Wendy’s sells milk from Ohio.

This display prompted committee Chairman Sen. John Nutting, himself a dairy farmer, to check out the label on the chocolate milk he had just purchased in the State House cafeteria. "It’s ultra-pasteurized milk from California," he read.

Kilkelly, who is now director of the North East States Association of Agricultural Stewardship, testified insupport of LD 2262, an act that would clarify the definition of fresh milk and require milk produced in Maine to carry the label "Maine Fresh." This would distinguish fresh Maine milk from rehydrated or reconstituted milk imported from other states.

The issue was prompted by aggressive marketing techniques and a glut of milk in California and other states. "California milk is already being advertised on television in Maine," Kilkelly said. "This is not to imply there is anything wrong with that milk, but if we expect consumers to support our local farms, we must give them the information they need to do that."

"This is an effort to protect Maine farmers," sponso rRep. Wendy Pieh, D-Bremen, said in introducing thebill.

Jon Olson, executive secretary of the Maine Farm Bureau, also threw the bureau’s support behind the bill. "Getting the word ‘fresh’ on the label will bekey," he said, "so the consumer knows what they are buying."

The Maine Dairy Industry Association also supports the bill. Executive Director Julie Marie Bickford pointed out that California is producing 5 million pounds of milk a day, compared to Maine’s 69 million pounds a year.

Kilkelly said a similar bill has passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives and is being considered in Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont.

"Clearly there are issues with milk coming east from places where processing is cheaper," Kilkelly said.

Testifying in opposition to the bill, John Blake ofH.P. Hood and Douglas Carr of Oakhurst said that California milk falls under different standards thanMaine milk and it would be too expensive to ship it to the east. The bill, they maintained, is not necessary and would adversely affect several new dairy products coming into the market.

Blake said rehydrated or reconstituted milk is already clearly labeled. Carr said that there are times of the year when Oakhurst is forced to import milk from other states to fill its quota. He explained that by blending less than 20 percent of out-of-state milk with Maine milk, he can remain under the Maine Quality Seal requirements.

Carr said the Maine Quality Seal should be enough to give consumers confidence. The seal means that 80 percent of the milk in the container is produced in Maine and produced without artificial growth hormones.

"The concerns expressed by Ms. Kilkelly and others about the future of Maine’s dairy industry are legitimate and we’ll do just about anything we can to support Maine farmers," Carr said, but he added that if any label is created, it should be more regional. He suggested that new label rules be researched over the summer and proposed at the next session.

Ned Porter, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, said the department supports the bill’s concept, but agreed that the Maine Quality Seal has a strong place in the marketplace. He presented two rule changes that the department could adopt that would clarify both the definition and a processor’s licensing requirements.

A work session on the bill is expected to be held Friday.