As may as 20 people are sick in Colorado in an ongoing Campylobacter outbreak, with multiple public health agencies reporting the most likely cause is raw milk from Larga Vista Ranch — some of which appears to have been distributed illegally. “All the individuals who were sickened reported drinking raw milk from Larga Vista Ranch,”…
Patchwork of state regs on raw milk blankets the country
There’s more than one way to skin a cat. That’s especially true when looking at how states are tangling with the dilemma of how to regulate the sale of raw milk. Even though federal law requires any milk that’s sold across state lines to be pasteurized and prohibits the sale of raw milk across state…
Cow Share Agreements Will Start Raw Milk Flow in Wyoming
Regulations that will likely result in more people getting sick are the regulations most people want, says Dean Finkenbinder, consumer health services manager for Wyoming’s Agriculture Department. He is referring to language the department plans to send to the Attorney General, making it legal for cow shareowners to acquire the raw milk. It is the…
19 Ill with E. Coli in Oregon Raw Milk Outbreak
Nineteen people in Oregon are ill with E. coli in an outbreak traced to raw milk from Foundation Farm near Wilsonville — up one from the 18 cases reported Thursday — according to a April 20 news release from the Public Health Division of the state’s Health Authority.
Of the 19 people, 11 have culture-confirmed …
Wisconsin Raw Milk Case Could Affect Buyer ‘Clubs’
If a Wisconsin raw-milk seller is convicted of the misdemeanor charges against him, it could have a “chilling effect” on dairy buying clubs or cow-share schemes, according to a commentary on the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund website.
Vernon Hershberger of Loganville, WI, who leases his cows to a “food buyers club,” has been charged with …
Local Food Ordinance Proposed on West Coast
The local food ordinance movement that began in a handful of small towns in Maine has found its way to California. On Jan. 24, 2012, farmer Pattie Chelseth introduced a “Local Food and Community Self-Governance” ordinance to the Board of Supervisors in El Dorado County in the historic Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.…
Have the Feds Finally Found Food Producers They Can Throw the Book At?
Though Peanut Corp of America has been cited for responsibility in nine deaths and more than 700 illnesses from Salmonella in its peanut butter, its president, Stewart Parnell, has remained seemingly immune from prosecution nearly three years after the fact.
Same with Austin “Jack” DeCoster of Wright County Egg, which was linked to as …
Raw Milk Threat Continues in Alaska
At least 18 people have now been sickened in an outbreak of Campylobacter infection associated with raw milk from a cow-share farm in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Valley, according to an updated epidemiology bulletin from the state Department of Health and Social Services.
The Alaskan outbreak, first reported in late June, is ongoing and remains a threat …
Campylobacter Illnesses Tied to Raw Milk in Alaska
KTUU News reports that four people infected with Campylobacter jejuni bacteria in south central Alaska were participating in a raw milk cow-share scheme at a Mat-Su Valley farm.
All four, who ranged in age from 1 to 81, became ill after drinking raw milk from one of the farm’s cows, and two said family members also …
Wyoming Kills Attempt to Open Raw Milk Loophole
Raw milk advocates were dealt a setback last week when the Wyoming House Agriculture Committee defeated a bill that would have made cow share schemes legal.
The vote was 6-3 against the bill, which would have expanded raw milk sales in the Cowboy State.
Earlier in the week, the House Ag Committee also killed the …