Proponents of a municipal bill that would extend the shelf life of sal

Proponents of a municipal bill that would extend the shelf life of salable milk by two days argue that this will allow milk distributors to make fewer trips to retail stores. This will cut the cost to the distributors, which in turn will cut the cost to the retail stores and thus inevitably cut the cost to the consumer. Those of us aware of human greed, however, need only point to the southernmost counties to prove our case. In those counties the shelf life has always been two days longer than it is here, and yet they have always paid more for their milk. Thus, whatever savings the distributors and retailers realize will be put directly into their pockets and not, as the idealists claim, passed on to the consumer.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

A. Milk pasteurization methods have become so efficient that milk can stand for two more days on the shelf without turning bad.
B. The southernmost counties are some of the country's largest milk producing regions.
C. Due to modern pasteurization and the present shelf life limit, incidents of illness due to contaminated milk are very rare.
D. Milk retailers located in the southernmost counties have far greater operating costs than those in the city.
E. Milk pasteurization methods are far from perfect, and extending the shelf life slightly increases health risks.