No Warning Required On Raw Milk Sold At Portland Farmers Markets
Raw milk sold at farmers markets in Portland, Maine will not be required to carry a warning, the city council decided last night.
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The city’s health department had recommended that warnings citing the health risks of raw milk be posted on placards or handouts where raw milk was sold, but the council voted against the proposed measure calling it “unfair and arbitrary.”
Raw, or unpasteurized, milk can carry dangerous pathogens such as Salmonella, E.coli, Campylobacter and Listeria, which is why many medical and scientific organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, all recommend that milk intended for human consumption be pasteurized.
The CDC reports that raw milk accounts for the bulk of dairy-associated foodborne illness outbreaks and estimates that raw milk causes an average of eight foodborne illness outbreaks every year.
So far this year, an ongoing multistate outbreak linked to raw milk produced on a Pennsylvania farm has sickened at least 43 people with Campylobacter infections, according to state health officials. From 2009 through 2011, there were 29 foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw milk or raw cheese. And between 1998 and 2009, there were 93 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to raw milk and raw milk products, according to the CDC. Those outbreaks sickened a total of 1,837 people, hospitalizing 195 and killing two.
If you have legal questions about an illness or hospitalization associated with raw milk, contact the food safety lawyers at PritzkerOlsen P.A. for a free consultation.
