More than 165 infected with Salmonella in raw milk outbreak

To date, more than 165 people, mostly children, have become ill from raw milk products from Raw Farm LLC.

From reports obtained by Food safety news from the California Division of Communicable Disease Control and the California Department of Health, the Salmonella outbreak has sickened 165 people in four states. The Ministry of Health previously reported a dozen sick people. The most recent report dates from February this year. The most recent illness was recorded within the past month.

“For the past thirty-plus years, I have been an outspoken advocate for robust public health involvement in disease – especially the prevention of foodborne illness. It is beyond me to understand why public health would remain silent in the face of at least 165 sick people, 20 hospitalized and 40 percent of the sick five years old or younger – especially raw milk – a risky elixir. The more I think about this, the harder it is to figure out why public health would rely on the scientific fact that a food manufacturer of a known high-risk food is making hundreds of people sick. This includes overwhelming epidemiological evidence of the same WGS pattern in both humans and milk. If we put aside for a moment the ‘food freedom’ argument that people should be able to eat or drink whatever they want, and feed their children the same; What about simply informing the public of the facts and letting the public decide?” said Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety attorney and publisher of Food safety news.

The number of patients in the outbreak is likely much higher than the figures reported by the Department of Communicable Disease Control due to under-reporting. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that for every confirmed patient in a Salmonella outbreak, there are 29 unreported patients.

Raw Farm LLC, formerly operating as Organic Pastures, is involved in the outbreak.

Portions of two reports obtained by Food Safety News were redacted. The outbreak described in the reports began in the fall of 2023. The average age of patients in the outbreak that sickened 165 people was seven.

“Organic Pastures, also known as Raw Farm, a brand of raw milk, and other brands of raw milk, have been linked to multiple previous outbreaks of STEC O157, STEC O103 and Campylobacter,” the Division of Communicable Disease Control report said.

The agency reported that the Salmonella outbreak, which affected 165 patients, is the largest linked to raw milk in the past decade. Tests of raw milk from the Raw Farm dairy and raw milk in patients’ homes were consistent with the Salmonella outbreak.

Fourteen percent of patients with known required information have a hospital stay.

Raw Farm stopped production and issued a recall on October 24, 2023, but resumed sales on October 31. Of patients with available information, 93 percent reported consuming raw milk from Raw Farm LLC.

Raw Farm LLC recalls and outbreaks in 2024:

February 2024 Outbreak and recall of E. coli raw milk cheese

Other Raw Farm LLC recalls and outbreaks in 2023:
May 2023 Campylobacter raw milk recall
August 2023 Salmonella Cheese Recall

Here’s a bit of history:

Organic Pasture Dairy Company (OPDC) and raw farm
OPDC founded in 2000 – name changed to Raw Farm LLC in 2020

Recalls and outbreaks of organic dairy farm pastures:
September 2006 Outbreak of E.coli in raw milk: 6 sick/2 HUS
September 2007 Recall of Listeria raw cream
December 2007 Outbreak of Campylobacter in raw milk: 8 sick
September 2008 Recall of raw Campylobacter cream
November 2011 Outbreak of E. coli in raw milk: 5 sick/3 HUS
May 2012 Campylobacter raw milk/cream outbreak: 10 sick, reported illnesses from January to April
October 2015 Campylobacter raw milk recall
January 2016 Raw milk outbreak due to E. coli: 9 sick/2 HUS

About raw milk
According to the California Division of Communicable Disease Control, raw milk or unpasteurized milk is not grass-fed and labeled organic. It’s about pasteurization. Numerous recalls and outbreaks have shown that milk that has not been pasteurized is contaminated with one or more pathogens, including E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter and Brucella.

From 2009 through 2021, unpasteurized raw milk was linked to 143 outbreaks.

“Pasteurization is considered one of the most effective food safety interventions in public health,” according to the California Division of Communicable Disease.

“Before its use, millions became sick and died from tuberculosis, scarlet fever, typhoid fever and other diseases.”

Pasteurization was initially developed for wine in the 1850s and applied to milk about twenty years later. In the 1920s and 1930s, pasteurization of milk became the norm. Now, the sale of raw milk across state lines is prohibited by federal law.

It has been repeatedly shown that pasteurization does not reduce the beneficial properties of milk.

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