Raw milk consumption is becoming more popular but also riskier than ever before. It’s not just the usual dangers like E. coli and campylobacter, but also the new threat of the H5N1 avian flu virus. Pasteurization can control most of this risk, but it also means the milk would no longer be considered “raw.”
Health officials have found H5N1 in raw milk. Recently, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) recalled raw milk from Valley Milk Simply Bottled in Stanislaus County after testing revealed the presence of the avian flu virus in the milk. This area, located in California’s Central Valley, has been experiencing H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cows since August. Earlier this year, similar recalls happened with Raw Farm, which had sold contaminated raw milk.
The recall in California includes quarts, half-gallons, and gallon-sized plastic jugs with dates between Dec. 23 and Dec. 30. Although raw milk has not been directly linked to human cases of bird flu, the virus is still considered a dangerous pathogen.
California is one of the few states where raw milk is legally sold in stores, but many other states allow direct sales, usually at farms or farmers’ markets. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is being considered for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, is known to support raw milk.
The USDA is gathering more information and testing dairy farms for H5N1. Over 700 dairy herds have tested positive for bird flu since March, although the tests do not include farms that sell raw milk.
Raw milk consumption is growing, with Mark McAfee, the owner of Raw Farm USA in Fresno, saying that production and supply in California are increasing by 50 percent each year.