Family Farm Cooperative denies Raw Milk Link to MI Campylobacter Outbreak
A nationwide warning against consumption of raw milk has been issued by the Food and Drug Administration as the FDA joins the investigation of a Campylobacter outbreak in south Michigan associated with raw milk sold through a herd- or cow-share program.
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The federal agency says there were a total of 1,614 reported illnesses, 187 hospitalizations and two deaths from consumption of raw milk between 1998 and 2008 in the United States. On average in the decade, raw milk was linked to more than eight outbreaks per year of Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella or other enteric disease, the FDA said.
Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with raw milk likely is greater.
For years, state and federal health officials have uniformly warned against consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk because it is at risk for unchecked fecal contamination that can result in potentially deadly intestinal illness in humans.
The latest warning, issued Friday by FDA in a national press release, coincides with a three-state investigation of 12 genetically matched Campylobacter illnesses in Michigan that public health officials have associated with raw milk from Forest Grove Dairy in Middlebury, Indiana. The product was sold in Michigan and Illinois by Family Farm Cooperative of Vandalia, Michigan, officials have said.
More than one sample of the milk has tested positive for Campylobacter and interviews with ill persons have shown that the milk was a common denominator in their diets.
Since March 1, 24 people in southeastern Michigan who have drunk milk from the dairy have fallen ill. That's what James McCurtis, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Community Health, told the Kalamazoo Gazette newspaper. Half the cases have not been confirmed with stool samples.
The FDA said in its press release that proponents of raw milk often claim that raw milk is more nutritious than pasteurized milk and that raw milk is inherently antimicrobial, thus making pasteurization unnecessary. But scientific comparisons have found no meaningful nutritional difference.
So, it was no surprise to read in the Kalamazoo Gazette that an attorney for Family Farm Cooperative rejects the notion that raw milk caused the current outbreak.
"I don’t agree (the disease outbreak) has been linked to the milk,” Stephen Bemis, the farm’s attorney, told the newspaper.
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen represents victims of raw milk food poisoning and actively supports legislation to keep raw milk out of commerce as a way to prevent catastrophic illness among consumers. If you or a loved one has been sickened in the current outbreak, contact a Campylobacter attorney at our firm by calling 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page.
Our law firm is one of the few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness and we have collected millions of dollars for victims.
