Campylobacter Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Campylobacter Blog

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture has announced that testing has confirmed that 35 campylobacter infections resulted from the consumption of unpasteurized “raw” milk. The agency announced on September 16 that DNA test results and other evidence have now established that the confirmed cases of Campylobacter jejuni infection, including 21 patients under age 18, were caused by unpasteurized milk purchased from Zinniker Family Farm near Elkhorn. The farm sells raw milk through a cow-share program.

Wisconsin Ag Connection reports that:

Additional testing showed that the Campylobacter jejuni isolated from 25 of the patients, all linked to Zinniker Family Farm, had the same DNA fingerprint. Manure samples obtained directly from milking cows on that farm also tested positive for Campylobacter jejuni with the same DNA fingerprint. Manure on the cows' udders or in the milking barn environment can contaminate milk. Pasteurization kills Campylobacter jejuni and other disease-causing bacteria in milk.

Agriculture officials count the Zinniker outbreak as the third major outbreak in Wisconsin since 2001 that has been tied to raw milk consumption. Sale of raw milk is illegal in Wisconsin.

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The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) is warning residents not to consume unpasteurized ("raw") milk due to risks posed by bacterial pathogens, such as campylobacter.   The press release, dated September 14, states:

 drinking unpasteurised milk is risky because it hasn’t been heat treated to kill any harmful bacteria that might be in the raw product, such as Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and Listeria monocytogenes.

NZFSA also explains why "raw" milk is so risky.

It is very easy for harmful bacteria to get into raw milk during the milking process. They can cross into milk while it is still in the udder (via unrecognised mastitis) or milk can be contaminated from the dairy farm environment during milking. Once contaminated, raw milk is not subjected to any step between collection and consumption that will rid milk of the harmful bacteria; unlike pasteurised milk, which receives a heat treatment that kills them.

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Americans food habits are changing. We drink less milk and eat more cheese. We drink a lot less milk than most places in Europe and more than most do in Asia.

Still, when our total annual per capita consumption amounts to something north of 22 gallons of milk, more than 35 pounds of cheese, and 2.1 pounds of butter; there is just one thing to say.  We should all toast at least one glass a year to Louis Pasteur, the French chemist and microbiologist, who invented Pasteurization to make both milk--and yes wine--safe for us to drink.

For while only a tiny fraction of the milk we consume is "raw" or unpasteurized; it is raw milk that continues to deliver a menu of pathogens including Campylobacter that are good only for making people sick, and possibility dead.

More evidence of raw milk's danger comes in the current issue of the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) that looks all the 2006 data the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has collected on food-borne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) from all states and territories through the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FBDSS).

This report, according to CDC, summarizes epidemiologic data on FBDOs reported during 2006 (the most recent year for which data have been analyzed). A total of 1,270 FBDOs were reported, resulting in 27,634 cases and 11 deaths.

Dairy commodities, which we assume are milk, cheese and butter, accounted for only three percent of the single source outbreaks in 2006. That translates into 16 outbreaks responsible for 193 food-borne illness cases.

Of those dairy outbreak cases, 71 percent were attributed to unpasteurized raw milk. Raw milk was responsible for ten outbreaks that made 137 sick. “A wide range of bacterial pathogens was associated with the raw milk outbreaks, including Campylobacter (six outbreaks), STEC (E. coli) 0157:H7 (two outbreaks), Salmonella (one outbreak), and Listeria (one outbreak), resulting in 11 hospitalizations and one death," CDC reports.

Raw milk drinkers, say it ain't so!

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The Washington Department of Health warned that milk produced at the Pleasant Valley Dairy in Ferndale, Washington, may be contaminated with Campylobacter this week.  Campylobacter - a bacterium that causes diarrhea, somach cramps, and other symptoms of food poisoning, is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness. 

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The bacteria were found in a routine testing sample taken Dec. 11, the department said.

Local health departments are reviewing Campylobacter illness reports that may be related to the milk, the news release said. Symptoms of the illness usually occur two to five days after ingestion and generally last for seven to 10 days.

The milk was sold in half-gallon plastic containers at the Pleasant Valley farm store and at Barganica, Community Food Co-op and Terra Organica in Bellingham; Skagit Valley Co-op in Mount Vernon; Arlington Health, Petosa's, Manna Mills, Tru Health and Bob's Corn Patch in Snohomish County; and Spuds in Seattle, the news release said.

The milk has a sell-by date of December 20.

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49abcnews.com reported last week that at least 87 Kansans had become ill with Campylobacter infections after consuming raw dairy products in November.  The outbreaks were caused by raw cheese and raw milk - both products that have been identified as past food poisoning outbreaks, including E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks. 

In the first outbreak in southwest Kansas, 68 people became ill after eating cheese made from raw (unpasteurized) milk donated by a local dairy for a community celebration. Nineteen people were ill enough to seek medical attention, and two people were hospitalized. Four of these persons tested positive for Campylobacter jejuni; no other food items served at the event were associated with illness.

The second outbreak is linked to a dairy in south central Kansas that sells raw milk directly to consumers. As of November 30, 2007, 19 cases of campylobacteriosis had been reported. Each person reported drinking raw milk purchased from the dairy.

The International Food Safety Network and other food safety advocates have repeatedly warned about the dangers of consuming "raw", or unpasteurized, milk, cheese, and other dairy products.  In May, Braw Surgeoner of iFSN wrote on the organization's blog:

Every week in the U.S. there is a report of unpasteurized milk testing positive for listeria or salmonella or E. coli or campylobacter (see Contamination shows up in dairy, Capital Press, May 18/07); every month there is a report of people, largely children, sickened after consuming unpasteurized milk in the misguided belief that all things natural are good.

She lists previous foodborne illness outbreaks linked to unpasteurized dairy products in the post, then counters raw milk advocates' claims that unpasteurized milk is safe.  Read the entire iFSN post on raw milk here.

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I showed up at the farm in the dark of night. This was not a necessary element to procuring my illicit elixir, but it somehow seemed apropos. A lone light and the moon illuminated the gravel drive between my car and the barn in rural Alamance County. A black cat scurried across my path, and I mused at the irony.

Just as promised, I found the milk in the fridge. "Nelson" was printed neatly on the glass with indelible ink on an otherwise unlabeled jar. No one was around except for a dog, who surveyed my intentions and went back to guarding the cows. I left the money on the counter and departed with my contraband.

This was actually the least secretive element in my quest to find raw milk. Getting here had required everything short of a secret handshake.

Keep reading here

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Residents of Cayuga County and surrounding counties are being warned not to drink or use unpasteurized raw milk sold from a Genoa farm because of possible bacteria contamination, according the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Raw milk sold by the Phil Stauderman Farm, 3128 Blakely Road, Genoa, may be contaminated with Campylobacter, a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, nausea, headache and muscle pain in children and young adult, according to a news release from the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The Stauderman farm has a department permit to legally sell raw milk at the farm, according to the news release.

Keep reading here

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A York County dairy has suspended its raw milk sales for the second time in a month under the advice of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which warned that the milk might be linked to a case of gastrointestinal illness.

The state is advising people not to drink raw milk purchased from Stump Acres Dairy in New Salem since March 19. The dairy voluntarily suspended sales Tuesday, though the health department has not at this time established that any of the milk is contaminated with bacteria or otherwise unsafe.

"The results are still pending," said Larissa Bedrick, spokeswoman for the department of health.

The department also recommends a doctor visit for anyone who has become ill after consuming the dairy's raw milk.

Keep Reading Here

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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food said Monday bacteria that cause campylobacter were not found in milk samples tested last week.

Utah County health officials issued a warning against raw milk consumption last week after several cases of a severe food-borne illness were linked to products from the same dairy -- Woolsey's Dairy in Payson.

The department tested samples taken directly from a cow and a goat, the production line and from consumers.

The samples were not part of the original milking associated with the illnesses, the department said.

"We can't test milk consumed three weeks ago," spokesman Larry Lewis said.

Keep reading here.

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah County health officials issued a warning against raw milk consumption.

Seven cases of a severe food-borne illness have been linked to products from the same dairy.

Utah's Department of Agriculture and Food has issued a notice of investigation to Woolsey's Dairy in Payson, where the sick consumers say they purchased raw milk.

Keep reading here.

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The owner of a Utah County dairy that's being inspected by health officials says he doesn't know if raw milk from his dairy is what made seven people sick.

Lars Woolsey of Woolsey's Dairy in Payson says he does not think the milk is what caused the food-borne illness. Woolsey says he sent off samples to be tested earlier this week and the county health inspectors were at the dairy Wednesday.

Keep reading here.

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Washington Post reporter Thomas Bartlett wrote about raw milk and the group of people who "swear by the virtues" of unpasteurized milk in an October 1st article.

In Maryland, where I live, as in most other states, you can't walk into a store and buy raw milk. That's because, while possession of raw milk is legal, selling it is a crime. It's also a violation of federal law to transport raw milk across state lines with the intent to sell it for human consumption. The Tennessee dairy that sold it to me offers raw milk as pet food. The dairy's Web site warns that "due to significant legal and liability issues, we cannot and will not answer questions regarding human consumption of these or any other raw milk products -- please don't ask."

Barrett mentions that in a conversation with a Maryland health official raw milk was compared to heroin or marijuana.

The raw milk underground isn't for the faint of heart. Some who believe raw milk is nature's perfect food have to break -- or find creative ways to skirt -- state and federal laws. Then they have to ignore the warnings of medical associations and government agencies that rank drinking raw milk alongside BASE jumping and gas huffing. The Food and Drug Administration even compares it to playing Russian roulette. And yet there are thousands of folks all over the country who eagerly seek out raw milk, even though it can be expensive, difficult to obtain and -- oh, yes -- illegal to sell. In some states, health agencies are cracking down on raw milk suppliers.

Barrett interviewed researchers from the FDA and learned the FDA's position:  "The FDA says raw milk advocates ignore science and put their faith in dubious anecdotes about its supposed health benefits."

He goes on to write that "The triumph of pasteurization seems like a victory for human progress." 

So why do so many people swear by drinking raw milk???

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