Personal Injury Law

Health Department Says Don't Drink Raw Milk; Ag Department Says "Yes You Can!"

It is always interesting to tune into the state-by-state Raw Milk saga.   Take Pennsylvania for example.

Pennsylvania farms can sell Raw Milk, which means it is not pasteurized, under a system of permits and testing.   During the past week, we watched as on Feb. 20, the state Health Department put a public notice out that Raw Milk from Dean Farms in Lawrence County, PA should NOT be consumed because of possible contamination from campylobacter.  

Here some of what the state said:

State Health Secretary Everette James today advised consumers who purchased raw milk from Dean Farms in New Castle, Lawrence County, doing business as Pasture Maid Creamery, LLC, to immediately discard the raw milk due to potential bacterial contamination. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized.

Dean Farms sells directly to consumers who provide their own bottles. The business is not related to Dean's Dairy in Sharpsville, Mercer County, which produces pasteurized milk for supermarkets.

Recently, individuals who consumed raw milk purchased from Dean Farms were found to have gastrointestinal illness due to Campylobacter, a bacterial infection. Since January 23, a total of six confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection have been reported among raw milk drinkers in four unrelated households in western Pennsylvania. The investigation is ongoing.

In the Health Secretary's statement, which can be found here, it says the state recommended Dean Farms stop selling Raw Milk and the dairy agreed.  A week later, however, it is the Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary  with this release on PR Wire that announces that Dean Farms back selling Raw Milk to the public.  It says:

Dean Farms in New Castle, Lawrence County, has tested negative for Campylobacter contamination and resumed sales of raw milk on Feb. 26, Agriculture Secretary  Dennis Wolff  said today. 

While Dean Farms "tested negative," however, the number of confirmed cases of Campylobacter increased to a total of 9 in four unrelated households.  We see no new word about that on the Health Department's website.   Just the PR Wire from Secretary Wolff saying everything is okay, move along.

Our question for those of you in PA--Do you feel like this system is working for you?

Full post as published by Campylobacter Blog on March 01, 2009 (boomark / email).