A California producer of unpasteurized uncooked milk, the preferred milk of Division of Well being and Human Companies secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been compelled by the state to droop operations after officers discovered the chook flu virus in its merchandise.
All operations at Uncooked Farm ― a Fresno-based producer of uncooked milk, cheeses, pet meals and different dairy merchandise ― are “at the moment beneath quarantine, from herds to bottled product, which implies that all uncooked milk product distribution is suspended,” Steve Lyle, director of public affairs for the California Division of Meals and Agriculture, stated in a press release Monday.
The chook flu virus, or H5N1, was present in samples collected late final month, Lyle stated.
PATRICK T. FALLON by way of Getty Pictures
“CDFA dairy inspectors sampled milk from bottled merchandise and bulk milk storage at Uncooked Farm’s bottling facility on Wednesday, Nov. 27, and laboratory take a look at outcomes made identified on November 28 confirmed the presence of the chook flu virus,” he continued. “All milk examined by CDFA remained on the Uncooked Farm plant and was not launched to customers.”
State, county and federal officers are all persevering with to research Uncooked Farm’s operations, Lyle stated.
The suspension comes not lengthy after Uncooked Farm voluntarily recalled two of its uncooked milk batches after the Santa Clara County Public Well being Division detected chook flu in them.
Regardless of these ongoing points, Uncooked Farm told CNN on Monday that Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trump’s choose to guide HHS, has requested the corporate’s CEO, Mark McAfee, to use for the place of “FDA advisor on Uncooked Milk Coverage and Requirements Improvement.”
Jeff Bottari by way of Getty Pictures
Uncooked milk is milk that hasn’t been via the pasteurization course of, which merely entails heating milk to a minimal temperature for a set period of time in an effort to kill dangerous micro organism and different pathogens that might sicken customers with chook flu, E. coli, listeria and different severe ailments.
Though human instances of chook flu are unusual, partially because of pasteurization, the viral an infection could be lethal, according to the World Health Organization. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention explicitly advises folks not to consume raw milk as a consequence of its well being dangers.
Kennedy is a uncooked milk advocate who said in October that the Meals and Drug Administration’s rules on unpasteurized milk quantity to “aggressive suppression” and a “conflict on public well being.” The one main uncooked milk regulation from the FDA, which is beneath HHS, is an interstate gross sales ban.
In 2022, Kennedy stated that for the previous 12 months he’d solely consumed uncooked milk.
The FDA has thrown cold water on claims about the advantages of uncooked milk touted by its advocates, saying there’s no proof that any of the micro organism in uncooked milk is useful for gastrointestinal well being and that there’s no proof it treats bronchial asthma or allergy symptoms, cures lactose intolerance, or works extra successfully than pasteurized milk at keeping off osteoporosis.
The sale of uncooked milk is outlawed in a number of nations, together with Canada and Australia, and in a number of U.S. states, together with throughout much of the South and several red states.
