President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the nation’s high well being job, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has vowed to permit wider distribution of raw milk throughout America. However the detection of bird flu virus in unpasteurized milk bought in California shops underscores what well being consultants say are the known and potential risks.
“You need to assume that uncooked milk, unpasteurized milk, has potential infectious brokers that may trigger severe sickness within the individuals who drink it,” mentioned Michael Osterholm, a College of Minnesota infectious illness researcher who has investigated foodborne sickness outbreaks.
Uncooked Farm LLC, of Fresno, California, voluntarily recalled one lot of “cream high” entire uncooked milk after Santa Clara County well being officers discovered the hen flu virus in a pattern final week. State well being officers mentioned the county has been testing uncooked milk bought in shops as “a second line of shopper safety.”
No diseases have been traced to Uncooked Farm merchandise, which have loads code of 20241109 and a best-by date of Nov. 27. However officers with California’s well being division warned shoppers to not drink the milk and mentioned retailers ought to take away it from their cabinets. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County well being officers warned that “many retailers” there might have bought recalled uncooked milk contaminated with the virus.
Here is what else it’s essential to learn about uncooked milk and hen flu:
What can we learn about hen flu virus and milk?
It’s not a shock that the virus was present in uncooked milk bought in shops, Osterholm mentioned.
Hen flu, also called Kind A H5N1 influenza, was first confirmed in U.S. dairy cattle in March and has been spreading extensively. In California, greater than 435 dairy herds have seen infections — greater than all different U.S. states mixed. And excessive ranges of the virus have been discovered within the milk of contaminated cows.
About 20% of samples of pasteurized milk bought in shops have been discovered to include viral remnants of the virus, in line with checks carried out earlier this 12 months by authorities scientists. Pasteurization, or warmth therapy, kills the hen flu virus and likewise micro organism equivalent to E. coli, listeria and salmonella, that are recognized to make folks sick.
Officers with California’s Division of Meals and Agriculture have been conducting weekly checks of uncooked milk in bulk tanks from the state’s dairies. Extra checks carried out at Uncooked Farm websites in California have been unfavourable for the virus, however officers mentioned they’d start testing for hen flu twice per week.
Few checks of unpasteurized milk merchandise from shops have been carried out, so it is potential that different uncooked dairy merchandise might include the virus, Osterholm mentioned.
“It’s nonetheless actually unclear how a lot testing is occurring,” mentioned Osterholm. “We’re flying blind.”
Can hen flu in uncooked milk make folks sick?
So far, there isn’t any proof that individuals have been contaminated with the hen flu virus by consuming uncooked milk. Not less than 55 folks within the U.S. are recognized to have been contaminated by the virus this 12 months, however almost all have been dairy or poultry employees who developed gentle sickness after shut contact with contaminated animals.
Checks have proven that mice fed raw milk contaminated with hen flu turned very sick and barn cats on farms that drank milk from contaminated cows suffered mind harm and died, famous Nicole Martin, a microbiologist and affiliate director of the Milk High quality Enchancment Program at Cornell College,
“I do not assume we all know but whether or not folks can contract H5N1 from consumption of uncooked milk, however we have now sufficient proof that may recommend that folk should be just a little extra cautious proper now,” Martin mentioned.
Who drinks uncooked milk and why?
Practically 4.4% of U.S. adults, or about 11 million folks, report that they drink uncooked milk not less than as soon as every year. About 1% of adults say they devour uncooked milk every week, in line with a 2022 FDA study.
Proponents of uncooked milk cite perceived well being advantages and higher style as key causes for consumption. Uncooked Farm advertises its merchandise as “unprocessed and full” with nutritional vitamins, minerals, enzymes and useful micro organism.
Followers embody Kennedy, who has said he solely drinks uncooked milk. Kennedy has criticized agriculture departments for cracking down on uncooked milk and promised that the Meals and Drug Administration’s “ aggressive suppression ” of unpasteurized milk would finish underneath Trump.
Mark McAfee, proprietor of Uncooked Farm, has appeared a number of occasions on podcasts hosted by Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s former working mate. Each Kennedy and Shanahan are prospects, McAfee informed the Related Press.
“They need that very same degree of differentiating, great, examined, attractive, secure, scrumptious uncooked milk for everyone,” McAfee mentioned.
What do well being consultants say about uncooked milk?
Well being officers have warned for years that uncooked milk could cause diseases that vary from gentle to life-threatening. Between 1998 and 2018, the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention documented more than 200 illness outbreaks traced to uncooked milk, which sickened greater than 2,600 folks and hospitalized greater than 225.
Earlier than the U.S. adopted security requirements in 1924 underneath what was referred to as the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, about 25% of foodborne diseases have been associated to dairy consumption, in line with the Middle for Dairy Analysis. Now, dairy merchandise account for about 1% of such diseases.
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