On the heels of a raw dairy ordered to destroy 50,000 pounds of raw cheese, seven people are reported ill from another raw milk producer.
The milk came from a different farm than the cheese that was ordered destroyed earlier this month. The Department of Agriculture in Minnesota ordered Hartmann Dairy Farm to stop selling milk this summer when samples showed the presence of bacteria and a parasite. The farm was supposed to remedy the problem before resuming sales. It looks like some contaminated milk made it to market.
Because there’s an ongoing investigation, there aren’t too many more details available right now. Three consumers had a bacterial infection from camplyobacter jejuni and four had the parasite cryptosporidium parvum.
Raw dairy has been a controversial topic for a while. What do you guys think? Is it worth the risk?
[via The United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog.]
Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by chiotsrun
For me it’s worth it, but I know my farmer and the precautions they take and continuous testing they administer. I would never buy raw milk from someone I didn’t know.
Isn’t it interesting how so many food safety concerns go back to that disconnect between the consumer and the farmer?
what we’re seeing all over America is a smear campaign against raw milk dairies, carried on by govt. officials, for no good reason but to run family farmers off the land. REAL MILK = whole fresh pure raw milk – unadulterated by MPC from third world sources- is the best food there is. Local production enables yeomanry to make a living. But that doesn’t suit the Stalinist design of industrialized agriculture
whenever you hear anything about raw milk, ask yourself ‘has the govt. ever lied to me before?’
My family drinks raw milk and have never had a problem with it. Like Wendy, I know the farmer well and we own a share of the cow. We also visit the farm every once in a while.
The problem is, there’s no milk check-off for raw dairy, so all these organizations are on their own.
Dear Becky,
The “Samples” at the Hartmann’s farm containing bacteria were FECES. MANURE. The food was not contaminated. 266 samples and no contamination in the FOOD. News flash: Manure contains bacteria! It stinks, too! Drink the milk, not the manure, and we’ll all be healthier for it. Please, please read the whole story, before repeating what someone else put up.
Interesting! I’d love to see a source for that info, Helen. If that’s the case, it’s incredibly sketchy that they’re having these issues.
I was raised on a farm and drank raw milk throughout my childhood. But I would NEVER buy raw milk at a store today. My advice ONLY buy directly at the farm and ONLY buy from a farmer that is also shipping milk to a Grade A plant. The Grade A plant will insure that the farmer is meeting the minimum standards for cleanliness through quarterly inspections. The Grade A plant is also transporting the milk at least every 48 hours. This will insure that the milk at the farm is never more than 48 hours old in the bulk tank.
Making sure your raw milk producer also ships to a Grade A plant sounds like a creative way to address the problem that Nathan mentions below. Thanks for sharing this idea!
I really want to try some raw milk. I’ve been reading the book Nourishing Traditions and I’m so curious now. I have a hard time drinking grass fed, pasteurized milk. I’m not used to the taste and when it’s in the fridge, I just don’t drink it because I have such a strong aversion to it. Same with grass fed butter. I heard raw milk doesn’t have the same taste as pasteurized. True? I’d drink it, even if it did carry a little risk.
I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis about a year ago, and one of the worst symptoms I have had was chronic fatigue. I am not taking any medication for MS. When I started drinking raw milk about 6 months ago, the fatigue went away almost immediately. God created the stuff when it is handled properly to help our bodies. My neuologist argued with me that it is illegal to drink it. But the farm I buy it from is licensed by the State, so how can it be illegal? I have never had a problem with raw milk, and my wife who is lactose intolerant, can drink the raw milk with no problems. See the powepoint on realmilk.com
It is true about the connection between consumer and farmer. At the dairy where I buy our raw milk, the cows are treated better than most people. Probiotics in the water, grass-fed, pastured, etc. The farmer calls everyone first before they can buy the milk so that they understand the process and to answer any questions or concerns.
They are trying to make raw milk sound like poison. Look at the stats and you’ll see that people are sickened (they never say poisoned) far more by vegetables than by raw milk. But they never say to ban vegetables. Or to ban farm locations near feedlots. And they NEVER think to ban feedlots that are the DIRECT cause and ground zero of e Coli. Hypocrites!
Here is the FDA giving their nod of approval to food being contaminated with poison and chemicals and then saying it’s not okay if it accidentally happens in a dairy. The only difference is the money that’s being exchanged between industry and regulators.