Health Law

Raw milk and hot water in New York . . . and other states too

By Drew Falkenstein

At almost the same time that Colorado announced an E. coli O157:H7 and campylobacter outbreak linked to raw goat milk produced by Billy Goat Dairy in Longmont, New York announced that the license to sell raw milk held by Breese Hollow Dairy has been suspended due to positive tests for both campylobacter and listeria monocytogenes. 

Breese Hollow Dairy, located in Hoosick, New York, holds a New York permit to sell raw milk at the farm. A routine sample of milk, taken by a milk inspector from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets on June 22, 2010, was subsequently tested by the Department's Food Laboratory, and tested positive for listeria monocytogenes and campylobacter on June 30, 2010.

Breese Hollow Dairy's products have not been associated with any illnesses to date.  Nevertheless, Breese Hollow's positive tests for campylobacter and listeria are just more bad events in 2010 for raw milk proponents, enthusiasts, and the cause in general. 

In the first six months of 2010, raw milk was the cause of 11 outbreaks of campylobacter, salmonella, and E. coli O157:H7.  The outbreaks have occurred in 9 different states, including Washington, Utah, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Washington and Utah have each seen two raw milk outbreaks since the beginning of the year. Health officials from the affected states have counted over 50 confirmed illnesses from infection by Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter, and one victim of the Pennsylvania outbreak developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome and is still hospitalized.

As for the Billy Goat Dairy raw milk outbreak in Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado , the most up to date information is that there are 24 confirmed illnesses.  A team of state and local health investigators visited the Longmont dairy last Thursday morning to collect samples from the goats.  Epidemiologists continued to contact the 43 households that participate in the dairy's goat-share program to warn of potential health risks and check for symptoms.  Illness counts may increase this week.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on July 06, 2010 (boomark / email).