Raw milk from Pa. farm causes 35 to fall ill

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(CBS/AP) After consuming raw milk from the same dairy in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 35 people have been struck with illness, health officials say.

The confirmed cases of campylobacter bacterial infection include 28 people in Pennsylvania, four in Maryland, two in West Virginia, and one in New Jersey.

Health officials said Thursday consumers should discard raw milk bought from the Family Cow farm in Chambersburg on or after Jan. 1. The farm has voluntarily suspended raw milk production.

An Agriculture Department spokeswoman said final test results of milk samples from the farm may be available Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration warns that raw, or unpasteurized, milk can contain harmful bacteria. Dairy farmers say demand is growing because of concerns about hormones in traditional dairy products.

The FDA has more on the "dangers of raw milk."

[PanMcKracken]

Amazing how they never cover the THOUSANDS of illnesses caused by produce and milk produced by big Agra. They can afford to produce raw milk on a large scale because big milk houses could never pass the highly meticulous inspections Raw milk producers are subject to. they just boil the hell out of their hormone saturated, puss filled garbage and sell their dead product to the public on a massive scale. Raw milk producers in PA are the cleanest dairies in the world. you are 20 times more likely to get sick from produce at walmart or Giant or any other big retailer than from raw milk produced in PA!! Big agra has been caught setting up all these phoney "food saftey", "consumer advocate" websites to discredit raw milk producers with whom they cannot compete on a level playing field. Same old story- big corporations going after small farmers.

[tag12345]

You are so correct! I drink Raw milk from Ohio and that ain't easy. I also eat abt. 90% organic and pastured raised products. Kroger's gets about 20 bucks a month of my cash! Would rather give it to the true farmers than the bought by the lies Physicians!
My milk comes from a herd of 8 on green pastures. Not 8000 poor cows, sick and dying in confined feed lots. When are people going to just GET IT? You are what you eat! Garbage in...Garbage out at the tune of Millions in medical care. We live in a world of disease management. Health care? Like our government cares about healthy lives. No bucks in it for them. Thanks OBOOMA!
I just want to throw up when I see mothers buying that puss filled antibiotic garbage at the store and feeding it to our precious next generation. The same mothers wondering why their children have asthma, learning disability's and all kinds of health issue that didn't exist 30 yrs. ago. America! Grow the F Up! You are being bought out by the ones you thought were looking out for you. Our world, and country is just pathetic!

[kayakchick]

My husband is a physician. He has said that most people (most, not all) who come into his office stating they are allergic to milk, are actually allergic to the antibiotics that linger in the milk.

[Glynniso]

I've drank several batches from this dairy's milk, including this same batch! I started drinking it because regular pasteurized milk began to make me feel ill (I have begun to develop lactose intolerance). I can drink this milk and not feel sick. It tastes far better than pasteurized/homogenized milk, and has far more nutrients.

A lot of people who drank this milk and got sick most likely had weaker immune systems to begin with- the amount of families who go through insane quantities of Lysol each day don't realize they're hurting their immune systems by not allowing it to be exposed to a variety of pathogens.

Everyone has a natural amount of bacteria on their skin, in their stomachs, and inside of their mucus membranes- it's not the bacteria's presence which makes a person sick, it's their immune system's inability to maintain a certain balance. Everyone NEEDS E. coli in their stomach and intestines to help digest food, and everyone has Staph. aureus on their skin- it's an individual's immune system which dictates illness, not presence of bacteria.

[lilmadguy]

Using your own personal experience as the proof of your claim is a logical fallacy. It is literally like saying "I only see black a bird, therefore all birds are black."

Campylobacteriosis can be contracted by pregnant women, small children and the elderly and to a lesser extent healthy people. Campylobacter appears in the body however, an immune system can be overwhelmed with the introduction of more campylobacter. 124 deaths are attributed to campylobacter annually.

Unsterile food aka raw, is mostly safe for healthy persons but those who choose to consume it should accept responsibility for their illness.

[jackieschmidts]

Why is raw milk allowed to be sold to the general public? Without pasteurization, dangerous pathogens can contaminate it and make you very sick as the artile proves.

All mammal milk have hormones, naturally occuring and one species' hormones do not have any affect on another, so there is nothing to worry about here, just fear mongering by the "naturalists" and animal right activist types.

Those that think there is something special about raw milk are ignorant. The only aspect that is different from milk you buy in the store is that the store milk is pasteurized that kills those pathogens that can make you very sick and possibly kill you. Oh, the other difference that seems to make raw milk taste better is that it is whole milk (3.5% butter fat), not the 2 or 1% or skim you may be drinking.

Don't buy raw milk, or feed it to your kids. Local government should outlaw raw milk and the federal government should outlaw it across the country. They already don't allow it to be sold across state lines, why allow it at all. The farmer in PA that sold this product that made people sick should be sued. I hope he has a good liabiltiy policy and lawyer. Maybe a good question for raw milk buyers everytime they purchase it.

[Nate650]

I don't think people that think there is something special about raw milk are ignorant. To the contrary, they are likely among the most educated group of people when it comes to food and the food system.

The difference between raw milk and industrial milk is hardly just that one is pasteurized and one isn't. Now that sounds ignorant to me. You can bet raw milk came from cows raised on pasture, fed a wholesome diet, and not administered hormones and antibiotics. Also, raw milk is not homogenized. Industrial milk comes from cows raised in poor conditions, fed a cheap diet of grain (main corn), and are often administered hormones and antibiotics (which are required to prevent sickness as a result of the poor living conditions and diet). The composition of raw milk from grass fed cows and industrial milk are very different. For one, industrial milk contains an imbalanced ratio of omega-6:omega-3 fats.

Given that info, it's certainly understandable why there is a growing trend toward raw milk from grass fed cows. If you're still not convinced, how do you explain that people who are "lactose intolerant" can handle raw milk just fine?

[johm992]

To Jackie, when you call a group of people "ignorant" while sounding ignorant of the topic at hand, it doesn't bode well for you making your point. Raw milk contains the enzyme lactase, which as you might guess helps digest lactose. This is only one difference, raw milk also contains probiotics, which are hugely important for digestive health. Not to mention, if your selling raw organic grass fed milk you are talking about a healthy cow that is free eat what cows are ment to eat. Pasteurized milk is from feedlot cows, typically sick cows that are routinely given antibiotics. When a cow eats corn and grain to increase production the fat content of the end product milk is much higher in omega-6 fatty acids which are inflammatory. Grass fed cows are the opposite, their milk has low omega-6 and high omega-3 fatty acids which is anti inflammatory. I give it to my kids everyday. I would be more concerned to give them pasteurized milk. 800 people have had "diarrhea" since 1996 as a result of raw milk... gasp! More people die every single month from acceptable use of ibuprofen. If you want to drink garbage pasteurized milk be my guest, but don't tell me what I'm allowed to buy.

[Nate650]

"Dairy farmers say demand is growing because of concerns about hormones in traditional dairy products."

People have already made the corrections to this, but one more I'd like to add is "traditional" should really be "conventional." Traditional milk is raw milk from grass fed cows as essentially all milk was 200 years ago.

[Nate650]

Millions of people get sick from industrial foods (e.g., http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57371380-10391704/egg-recall-in-34-states-over-listeria-concerns-full-details/?tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea), yet raw milk seems to be scrutinized the most. It just doesn't make sense. Unless of course the FDA is trying to protect the industrial dairy industry.

[lilmadguy]

The FDA can't force a recall of food, the words "voluntary recall" are evidence of that. Moreover, the individual states decide if they will allow raw milk to be imported or exported across state lines, not the FDA.

[Lerianis4]

Actually, the FDA CAN force a recall of food that is known to be contaminated. It's just that most times, these companies in order to not have the black eye that comes from the FDA ordering that recall the stuff themselves.

[jerry3151]

The disturbing part of this story is the journalism, or lack of it. "Dairy farmers say demand [for raw milk] is growing because of concerns about hormones in traditional dairy products." (CBS/AP). No sources are cited for this confusing statement. Obviously whether or not cows are fed hormones, or given anti-biotics, for that matter, has no direct relation to whether the milk is pasteurized (heated) to kill bacteria.

One can make an assumption that raw milk likely comes from dairy farms more committed to organic principals, but that is certainly just an assumption, and not included in any definition of "raw milk."

There is no excuse for such sloppy journalism.

[paperburn1]

the problem itself is not raw milk, I grew up drinking raw milk. The problem now is industrial agriculture. Before if there were unsanitary practices that number/amount of people he got sick were just a few. Now with industrialized agriculture this single source when contaminated effects tens of thousands of people. The only logical way to mitigate this risk is by pasteurization of milk. with the single cow/family scenario sicknesses extremely rare from milk as the family has most likely been exposed to the pathogen's that would make one sick. In the industrial agriculture version the person is removed from the local pathogens and has no acquired immunity that would help protect him from serious illness. I can see both sides of this argument but the consumer needs to realize that he is not in control of his food source foodborne illnesses become a risk.

[wickbur-1]

well i got real sick looking at the past records of the FDA, i drink raw milk from cows and goats,i have for 0ver 20 years and never had any problems.

[lilmadguy]

Using your own personal experience as the proof of your claim is a logical fallacy. It is literally like saying "I only see black a bird, therefore all birds are black."

[brigstan]

I have to agree with electrorocket. Raw milk is very healthy for you in many ways, its last just as long as regular milk, you can skim off the top layer and make sour cream out of is as the milk is becoming sour. Pasteurized-hormone filled milk doesn't have this option to be "recycled". There a big population of people who still drink raw milk without any problem.

As for the campylobacter bacterial infection. The article forgot to mention that over 2 million people get this infection from a variety of sources. Sex being one of them.

There's nothing wrong with getting a little sick. Our immune systems are met to work and fight off many type of infections. Most of the infections people dont even notice, because it runs through their system quickly.

People need to grow up and educate them selves. Stop following the ideas and morels of the FDA. The FDA is run by politicians and lobbiests. Remember the FDA is the same company that approves of McDonanlds making chicken nuggets. That trash is soaked in ammonia and squeezed through a machine to make the "nugget shape"

Grow up America!