Danger is not keeping raw milk’s popularity down

While raw milk consumption is an elusive figure, it’s generally accepted that it is both more popular and more risky today than at any time in the past several decades.

It’s not just the usual threats like E. coli 0157:H7 and campylobacter but the new threat from the H5N1 avian flu virus. About 99 percent of the H5N1 threat can be controlled by pasteurization, but this would mean that raw milk, sometimes referred to as “fresh” milk, would cease to be raw milk.

State and local health officials are finding H5N1 in raw milk. Late last week, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced a recall of raw milk from Valley Milk Simply Bottled in Stanislaus County because it found avian flu in bulk-milk testing samples.

The Stanislaus County raw milk producer is located in California’s Central Valley, which has been hit hard by H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cows since August. 

And, in Late November and early December, raw milk recalls involved the nearby Raw Farm, where the product had reached retail sales.

The CDFA said the Valley Milk recall order includes quarts, half-gallons, and gallon plastic jugs with date codes ranging from Dec. 23 to Dec. 30.

Raw milk has yet to be named as a cause of human bird flu, but the virus is considered a pathogen.

California is the largest state where raw milk is legally sold in retail stores. However, many states now permit direct sales to consumers, most often on the farm or at other venues like Farmer’s Markets.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seeking Senate confirmation as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services, is reported to be a raw milk advocate.

USDA is collecting more data by testing more milk production for H5N1. More than 700 dairy herds have tested positive for bird flu since March this year. The testing, however, does not cover farms that sell their milk raw.

Drinking raw milk is said to be on the rise. Mark McAfee, who owns Raw Farm USA in Fresno, is quoted as saying production and supply in California are “growing at 50 percent a year.”

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