Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Raw milk blamed for six illnesses


Don’t look, and you might think the raw milk you’re drinking is safe.

But officials in Minnesota did look and during “routine surveillance” linked six illnesses to the consumption of raw dairy products from the Dennis Jaloszyski dairy farm, near Cambridge, Minnesota.

Lab results identified the cause in three illnesses as Campylobacter jejuni.

Health department officials were frustrated when they went to the farm to pick up a customer list so they could alert the people to watch out for symptoms of food poisoning.

The farmer said he doesn’t have a list.

That left officials to issue a general alert.

"We're concerned that people may be continuing to get sick after consuming products from this farm," said Trisha Robinson, a foodborne illness epidemiologist with MDH.

"While we are very concerned about the illnesses associated with this farm, this also is about the inherent risk for foodborne illness from any raw milk consumption," Robinson said.

"Drinking raw milk or eating products made from raw milk can expose you to a variety of pathogens that can result in anything from a few days of diarrhea to kidney failure and death. 

"People need to think carefully about those risks before consuming raw dairy products from any source, and people need to know that the risks are especially high for young children," she said.

It's one thing for stupid adults to shop for raw milk, but quite another to serve it to sweet innocent infants and toddlers.