MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Advocates of raw milk have rallied outside the Hennepin County courthouse to support a farmer charged with food code violations for distributing unpasteurized milk.

Alvin Schlangen, of Freeport, doesn't produce raw milk himself, but distributes it to over 100 consumers, mostly in the Twin Cities. Minnesota allows sales of raw milk to consumers only on farms where it's produced.

Schlangen says he's done nothing illegal because members of his private food club lease the cows. His trial was scheduled to begin Monday morning but has been pushed back up to a day.

Among the demonstrators was Lynn Maderich, of St. Paul, who says pasteurization destroys the nutritional benefits of raw milk.

But public health officials warn that raw milk can harbor dangerous bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella and listeria.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved)

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