Raw milk, raw skim milk (non-fat), raw cream and raw butter produced by Organic Pastures Dairy of Fresno County is the subject of a statewide recall and quarantine order announced by California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Whiteford. The quarantine order came following the confirmed detection of campylobacter bacteria in raw cream.

Consumers are strongly urged to dispose of any Organic Pastures products of these types remaining in their refrigerators, and retailers are to pull those products immediately from their shelves.

From January through April 30, 2012, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reports that at least 10 people with campylobacter infection were identified throughout California and reported consuming Organic Pastures raw milk prior to illness onset. Their median age is 11.5 years, with six under 18. The age range is nine months to 38 years. They are residents of Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Santa Clara counties. None of the patients have been hospitalized, and there have been no deaths.

The dairy's owner, Mark McAfee, says he believes the test results are incorrect. He has requested a hearing with the California Department of Food and Agriculture Friday.

It's the second recall in six months for the company, which was forced to recall milk contaminated with E. coli in December.

Oregon health officials suspect two more illnesses are part of a raw milk outbreak traced nearly three weeks ago to a farm near Wilsonville.

William Keene, senior epidemiologist with Oregon Public Health, told Lynne Terry of The Oregonian the two adults had both consumed raw milk from Foundation Farm, including one person who continued to drink it after being warned about the outbreak.

Keene said one was sickened by campylobacter, the other by cryptosporidium, making 21 likely cases in the outbreak. Nineteen others were infected with E. coli. One of the worst foodborne pathogens, E. coli O157:H7 was on rectal swabs from two of the farm's four cows. Milk and manure from the farm also tested positive for the same bacteria.

State epidemiologists did not test for campylobacter or cryptosporidium so they don't know for sure that the two new cases are linked to Foundation Farm milk, but Keene said it's likely.

Cryptosporidium and campylobacter repeatedly turn up in raw milk, he said, along with other harmful bacteria.

Four children who drank the milk were hospitalized with acute kidney failure, which is associated with E. coli O157:H7. As of Friday, they were still in the hospital, Keene said.

Two of the patients -- 14 and 13 -- are Portland area middle schoolers. The others are 3 and 1 years old.

A fifth child from Lane County, who drank the milk while visiting relatives in the Portland area, was hospitalized and released.

"We've documented yet another unfortunate incident where people missed the boat on one of the great advances in public health -- pasteurization," Keene said.

A table of raw milk related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/rawmilk.

More details from the Oregon E. coli O157:H7 raw milk outbreak.

Lynne Terry of The Oregonian writes the latest outbreak associated with raw milk has put a toddler and two young teens from the Portland metro area in the hospital with E. coli poisoning, two with kidney failure.

A fourth child -- also under 15 -- fell ill but was not hospitalized.

Officials from Oregon Public Health said Friday the children consumed raw milk from Foundation Farm, a family run operation in Wilsonville. At least seven other people who drank the farm's raw milk -- adults and children -- have developed either diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, a sign of E. coli O157:H7.

The outbreak could grow. Foundation Farm, which agreed to stop production, sold raw milk to 48 families in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties through a herd-sharing program. By Friday afternoon, state epidemiologists had only interviewed about half of them.

Dr. Katrina Hedberg, state epidemiologist, said anyone with the farm's raw milk or products made from the milk should throw them out.

A total of 20 states nationwide ban the sale of raw milk and 13 restrict sales. Oregon allows retail distribution of raw goat's milk but not raw cow or sheep's milk, which can only be sold directly to consumers at farms with no more than two producing cows and a maximum of nine producing sheep.

Foundation Farm has four cows, three that are lactating. But the farm is not breaking the law because herd-sharing programs are not regulated, said Bruce Pokarney, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

"There is no sale going on technically," he said. "The people who have
shares of the herd own the cows. That milk is their milk. It's as if they are living on the farm."

The company is owned by Bradley Salyers, according to a filing with the Oregon Secretary of State. The company took down its website, and Salyers could not be reached Friday for comment.

"There are laws that prohibit the retail sale (of raw milk) because this is not a safe product," Hedberg said. "People think there is a controversy. There is no controversy. People routinely used to get sick from raw milk."

An updated table of raw milk related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/rawmilk.

Food to many is an evangelical calling.

Some find faith in monotheism, some in nature, some in the sports shrine (I prefer ice hockey, especially now that the playoffs have started and the cathedral once known as Maple-Leaf-Gardens-whatever-the-corporate-home-of-Toronto’s-disgrace-is-now is out of the theological debate), and some in the kitchen.

For some faiths, like creationism, biology don’t matter much.

So the headline in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, harking to centuries of food hucksterism, is not surprising: “Illnesses don't dissuade raw milk fans.”

“Raw milk enthusiasts say an E. coli outbreak in Missouri won't change their preference for unpasteurized dairy products.

“At least nine people in five counties in central and western Missouri have been sickened by E. coli since late March. Health officials have pointed to raw milk as a possible cause in at least four of the cases, including a 2-year-old from Columbia who remains hospitalized with severe complications.

“MooGrass Farms near Collinsville sells about 200 gallons of raw cow, goat and sheep milk each week, mostly to families from the St. Louis area, said the farm's manager, Kevin Kosiek.

“His customers appreciate the taste of whole raw milk as well as the lack of heat processing that kills some of the nutrients.

"This is not a fad," Kosiek said. "People are going back to where people used to get their food, and that's farmers doing natural, organic things."

“Kosiek and several other raw milk distributors said they doubt the E. coli outbreak will be ultimately linked to unpasteurized dairy products.”

Faith and biology don’t have to conflict. Facts are important, but never enough. It’s a religious thing.

A table of raw milk related outbreaks is available at: http://bites.ksu.edu/rawmilk.