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Raw Milk Associated with Four Cases of E. coli

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

Four people have fallen ill in Connecticut after consuming raw milk contaminated with E. coli. The raw milk was produced by the Town Farm Dairy in Simsbury, Connecticut, and the farm has since stopped the production and sale of all milk products.  Investigators say that drinking raw milk from Town Farm Dairy was a common link.

Unlike pasteurized milk, raw milk has not been treated to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes.  Currently, 21 states require that all milk products for sale be pasteurized, while 25 allow the production of raw milk.  However, federal regulations by the FDA require that all milk products produced for interstate sale be pasteurized.  According to courant.com, Connecticut allows the sale of raw milk, but it must be labeled saying that the product contains “organisms that may be harmful to human health.”

Town Farm Dairy was originally shut down by its owner in 2003, but was reopened recently by a group known as Friends of Town Farm Dairy.  The farm is also the only one in the state of Connecticut that is a certified organic dairy farm that has retail and wholesale distribution.  The group running the dairy had hired farmers to run daily operations, but the farmers left July 1, leaving the group’s board members and volunteers to operate the farm. The contaminated milk was purchased with sell-by dates of June 24, July 4, and July 16, which is during the transition period of the farmers leaving.  The timing of the outbreak questions whether or not enough attention was being paid to the safety of the dairy products during the transition.

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Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on July 23, 2008 (boomark / email).