Tag: raw milk

Raw Milk – The Inconvenient Truth

Our next door neighbor, on learning yesterday that I’m a food safety microbiologist, asked me whether there were any foods I avoided. “I don’t eat raw sprouts,” I replied,”And I don’t drink raw milk.

One month ago today, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported that raw milk supplied to a school event by a local farm infected 16 people with Campylobacter jejuni. The identical strain of Campylobacter was recovered from stool samples obtained from the 16 victims and from milk samples collected from the farm’s bulk milk tank.

According to a July 15th report in Food Safety News, a parent of one of the Wisconsin school children went to a relative’s farm and collected raw milk from the farm’s bulk milk tank to bring to the event. The farm does not sell raw milk to consumers; it supplies milk to a licensed dairy for pasteurization.

On June 27th, the Alaska Division of Public Health reported on a cluster of 4 cases of Campylobacter; all four victims were infected with the same strain of Campylobacter jejuni. All four people reported drinking raw milk from the same cow-share farm in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley – the only common element. Two of the 4 victims reported that a total of three family members also had experienced symptoms of acute gastroenteritis, but had not sought medical treatment. The three unreported victims also had consumed raw milk from the same farm.

Yesterday, FDA announced that it was investigating – in conjunction with officials in North Carolina and South Carolina – three confirmed cases and an additional five probable cases of campylobacteriosis in people who drank raw milk from Tucker Adkins Dairy in York, SC. One of the three confirmed victims was hospitalized. The eight confirmed and probable victims all report having consumed raw milk obtained from the dairy on June 14, 2011. The victims come from three different households.

Most Campylobacter infections are relatively mild and short-lived. Nevertheless, Campylobacter, which is one of the most common causes of diarrhea in the USA, sometims produces severe illness – including bloody diarrhea – and is estimated to cause approximately 124 deaths annually in the United States. Campylobacter also is responsible for as many as 40% of the cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome reported annually in the US. Guillain-Barré is an autoimmune disease typified by paralysis that lasts for several weeks, and usually requiring intensive care.

FDA is urging consumers not to drink raw milk from Tucker Adkins Dairy. In my opinion, that warning doesn’t go far enough. To understand the risks, please check out Real Raw Milk Facts.

When you’re done, perhaps you will appreciate why I don’t drink raw milk.

Raw Milk Does It Again

This just in, courtesy of Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services.

“Bacteria That Caused Illnesses Among School Event Attendees Matches Strain Found In Unpasteurized Milk From Local Farm”

“MADISON – Laboratory test results show that the Campylobactor jejuni bacteria that caused diarrheal illness among 16 individuals who drank unpasteurized (raw) milk at a school event early this month in Raymond was the same bacteria strain found in unpasteurized milk produced at a local farm, according to officials from the Department of Health Services (DHS) and Western Racine County Health Department (WRCHD). A parent had supplied unpasteurized milk from the farm for the school event.

Stool samples submitted to the WRCHD by ill students and adults were sent to the State Laboratory of Hygiene where they tested positive for the bacteria. Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) food inspectors collected milk samples from the bulk tank at the farm, which tested positive for Campylobacter jejuni. Further testing by the State Hygiene lab showed the bacteria strain from the stool samples and the milk samples matched. Additionally, interviews with event attendees revealed that consuming the unpasteurized milk was statistically associated with illness. Health officials said that this combination of laboratory and epidemiologic evidence indicates that the illnesses were caused by the unpasteurized milk consumed at the school event.

Campylobacter jejuni bacteria can cause diarrhea, which can be bloody, abdominal cramping, fever, nausea and vomiting. Rarely, an infection may lead to paralysis after initial symptoms have disappeared. Campylobacter can be transmitted by consuming food contaminated directly or indirectly by animal feces or handled by someone with the infection who has not adequately washed hands after using the bathroom.

The farm did not sell the unpasteurized milk and there was no legal violation associated with the milk being brought to the school event. The farm is licensed and in good standing with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.”

Note the last paragraph. Since the farm did not SELL the unpasteurized milk, there was no legal violation. But that doesn’t make the farm’s actions either sensible or safe – as 16 people have just learned the hard way.

Also, raw milk advocates who deny that unpasteurized milk can be the source of food-borne disease, please note. The identical strain – the outbreak strain – of Campylobacter jejuni was recovered from stool samples of the outbreak victims AND was found in milk samples taken from the bulk milk tank at the farm. This is not “just” epidemiological evidence. The trigger was pulled and the gun was still smoking.

Raw milk is a high risk food and should never be offered – not even for free – to a susceptible population. That includes school children.

Temperance, Tea Parties, and Raw Milk

“Never again will any political party ignore the protests of the church and the moral forces of the state.”

-Wayne B. Wheeler, as quoted in Smithsonian, May 2010*

The godfather of prohibition did not wait until he had a majority behind his cause when he began his Temperance crusade. He did it – according to Daniel Okrent’s illuminating article in the May 2010 issue of Smithsonian – with minorities.

Wheeler focused on elections in districts where just a few percentage points separated the candidates, and mustered the temperance vote behind candidates who promised to support prohibition. His small groups of committed voters often were enough to swing close elections. Wayne Wheeler may not have invented pressure groups, but he was the first to use them effectively to gain a specific political objective in the face of a majority that was either opposed – or indifferent – to his aims.

The Tea Party movement has benefited from Wayne Wheeler’s lessons. Its members are among the most conservative elements of the US population. They represent the political opinion of a minority of the country’s citizens. They are, arguably, a minority even within the Republican Party. Yet this relatively small group of people has had a significant impact on the current round of election primary results – and on the policies of established politicians, including former Presidential candidate and self-proclaimed maverick, John McCain.

Then there’s raw milk.

The great majority of US consumers are either opposed – or indifferent – to legalizing retail sale of raw milk. Yet through the actions of a minority of committed consumers, raw milk can be purchased legally in 29 states. The number may be growing as raw milk advocates continue to refine the lessons taught by Wheeler’s temperance movement.

Earlier this month, supporters of raw milk fought successfully against a Massachusetts effort to place restrictions on raw milk “buying clubs” in that state. The movement also came within a whisker of achieving their goal in Wisconsin. A recent 1bill to legalize raw milk sales in the Dairy State was vetoed by Governor Jim Doyle.

The stated goal of the raw milk movement is to make retail sale of raw milk legal in all 50 states. Despite the occasional setback, they are well on the way to achieving that objective.

And the food safety movement?

Ask any consumer whether he or she supports food safety, and the answer will be “yes.” Why, then, has it been so difficult to achieve reform of our food safety system? I believe that the answer lies in the temperance, tea party and raw milk movements.

An omnibus food safety bill like S510 dilutes the message. It gets bogged down, and ends up taking a back seat to more politically pressing legislation. Eventually, it dies, because food safety isn’t glamorous.

We need to define our goals, rank them by priority, and tackle them one by one, district by district, and state by state.

Is mandatory recall authority for FDA and USDA our number one priority? If so, let’s promote a bill that tackles this single item, and swing our votes in favor of candidates who agree with us.

Do we want USDA to define all raw beef as adulterated if it contains Salmonella, Campylobacter, STEC E. coli, or any other human pathogen? Then we must craft a bill that focuses on this one issue.

Do we want to see true Country of Origin labeling for all food ingredients? That, too, should be a stand-alone bill.

The only way to achieve our food safety legislative goals is one step at a time – just like the temperance movement, just like the Tea Party activists. And just like the raw milk advocates.

Daniel Okrent’s article on Wayne Wheeler and the temperance movement should be required reading for all food safety advocates.

*Okrent, Daniel. “The Man Who Turned Off The Taps.” In: Smithsonian, pp. 30-37. May, 2010.