Bergey guilty of selling milk without health permit.(Business) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

Byline: JANETTE RODRIGUES

CHESAPEAKE -- By JANETTE RODRIGUES

The VIRGINIAN-PILOT

CHESAPEAKE - The president of Bergey's Dairy Farm Inc. was found guilty Tuesday of one misdemeanor charge of producing and selling milk without a Grade A permit.

Chesapeake General District Judge Robert R. Carter suspended a $250 fine against Leonard E. Bergey for selling chocolate milk two days after the judge ordered the dairyman to immediately stop on April 4.

The Chesapeake Health Department reinstated Bergey's milk-producing permit April 8 after the dairy corrected the health violations that led to the suspension.

But the dairy's woes didn't end there. The farm will not resume home deliveries because the family-run business, considered a Chesapeake institution for 72 years, is having financial difficulties, Bergey said Tuesday.

Bergey, 50, said he is glad that the judge dismissed all but one of the nine identical charges against him and that the fine was suspended. Bergey must pay just the $67 in court costs.

But 'things are looking pretty serious' for the business, he said, adding that the dairy needs a private investor.

In the past, he has attributed the dairy's financial problems to poor business decisions and costly improvements he had to make to the dairy and farm because of changes in state and federal regulations. He had said the cash crunch made it difficult for the dairy to address the violations.

Now, Bergey is having trouble putting milk on the shelves of the family's Mount Pleasant Road store.

'We have had difficulties producing and selling,' he said. 'We have the permit back to process and bottle all of our products , but I haven't been able to get it all done.'

Billing problems angered some home-delivery customers, causing the dairy to lose a third of those who used to get dairy products brought to their door in a yellow Bergey's delivery truck. He said the dairy hasn't done home deliveries since late March.

And last week health inspectors found high bacteria counts in samples of the dairy's non homogenized, 2-percent and whole milk .

Bergey contends that the amount of bacteria detected in the samples is similar to those allowed for yogurt and buttermilk.

Agnes Flemming, Norfolk Health Department environmental health manager, said the dairy was warned about the three products. If there are two more occasions when the same products are found with high bacteria counts, the dairy will have to stop making those products, she said. The next inspection will be in May, Flemming said.

Health Department records dating back to the mid-1990s for Bergey's show a pattern of violations - since corrected - such as leaking valves, mislabele d products and not having a functional thermometer on a milk tank.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Terry Gryder, who prosecuted the case, said no one wants to see Bergey's go out of business or have any difficulties, 'but ultimately, the milk supply has to be safe.'

* Reach Janette Rodrigues at (757) 222-5208 or janette.rodrigues@pilotonline.com.

{DOUBLE-EDIT} what it means

Bergey's Dairy Farm, an institution in Chesapeake for 72 years, and its president, Leonard E. Bergey, above, have been cleared to sell products after correcting health-code violations, but it still faces difficulties.