MIchigan Raw Milk Campylobacter Outbreak Prompts Illinois Warning
The Illinois Department of Health is warning state residents they could get sick from raw milk and are especially concerned about raw milk distributed by a Michigan company that came from a certain dairy in Indiana..
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Unpasteurized milk from Forest Grove Dairy of Middlebury, Indiana, is associated with an outbreak of Campylobacter in south and southeast Michigan that has sickened at least 18 people. Illinois issued its warning after learning Forest Grove Dairy raw milk was distributed across state lines from Michigan to Des Plaines, Downers Grove, Elgin and Chicago.
The distributor, which is involved in a so-called cow-sharing circle, is identified in the news release as Family Farms Cooperative of Vandalia, Michigan.
The Illinois Department of Public Health said the state and local health departments will be following up on any other reports of illness linked to raw milk consumption. They urge residents who have consumed raw dairy products and have become ill to contact a physician and be tested for Campylobacter infection.
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is answering legal questions from victims of this outbreak. To contact a Campylobacter attorney, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete a contact form on the side of this Web page.
According to a Food and Drug Administration document, federal regulators issued a Warning Letter to Forest Grove Dairy on Feb. 8, 2007, for "documented violations of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) and a Federal regulation promulgated under the PHS Act."
The letter -- obviously related to raw products -- said the dairy was the target of a joint investigation by the FDA, the Indiana Board of Animal Health, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture,
"Our investigation determined that your firm distributes [redacted] and [redacted] in interstate commerce, in finished form for human consumption. Such distribution is a violation of the PHS Act, 42 U.S.C. § 271(a), and the regulation codified in Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 1240.61(a) The regulation prohibits the delivery into interstate commerce of [redacted] and [redacted] in final package form for direct human consumption unless they have been pasteurized.''
Phyllis Entis, a veteran microbiologist and food safety expert, has made a pointed observation about the Michigan Campylobacter outbreak and the situation in Illinois much to our liking.
While cow-share supporters drink raw milk because it ostensibly is a high-quality product supplied by a "known'' local farmer, she says the milk in this outbreak is not local, not fresh and not safe.
"Cow share programs are paper-pushing devices used to circumvent state laws prohibiting the retail sale of raw milk for human consumption and federal law against interstate shipment of raw milk for human consumption,'' Entis writes.
The Illinois warning is straight-forward, scientific and also to our liking:
Raw milk can cause serious infections. Raw milk and raw milk products (such as cheeses and yogurts made with raw milk) can be contaminated with bacteria that can cause serious illness, hospitalization, or death. Pasteurization is the best method of eliminating disease-causing organisms in milk and the only method routinely used in the United States.
The Michigan Department of Community Health has advised us that the newspaper report which we linked in our notification to you this past Sunday misquoted the MDCH spokesperson concerning campylobacter in FFC milk samples. As of April 1, MDCH has NOT identified campylobacter in any milk samples, although their testing continues. The newspaper has made a correction. We have provided MDCH with the information they requested (with exception of our customer lists), and we hope that cooperation in this study will flow both ways.
Forest Grove Dairy (the sole provider of raw cow milk for FFC) has advised us that they took bulk tank samples again Monday, March 22, and test results showed no detectable levels of campylobacter or the other principal food pathogens in those samples. These test results have been sent to MDCH.