The largest raw milk outbreak in history occurred from late 2023 to early 2024, so says a report from the Center for Disease Control. This is an important thing to be aware of. While the numbers pale in comparison to outbreaks related other common foods, which get written off as proof that our public health and regulatory bodies working, it’s still a big outbreak that we can learn from.
TLDR: Raw Farm of Fresno, California, largest retail raw milk farm in the USA. New cow recently added to the herd was producing milk contaminated with Salmonella, herd tested negative after new cow was removed. 159 cases confirmed, 22 hospitalized, zero deaths. Raw Farm feeds approximately 50,000 families, this number is a few years old and popularity has risen.
Prior reading: Comparing raw milk foodborne illness data with other foods
Numbers behind the historic raw milk outbreak
From CDC:
During October 2023–March 2024, California public health officials investigated an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections linked to raw milk from a California dairy farm. Among 171 cases identified in California and four other states. … Whole-genome sequencing detected the S. Typhimurium outbreak strain in raw milk and raw milk cheese aged for 60 days, both produced by the dairy.
159 (93%) confirmed and 12 (7%) probable cases. Breakdown of hospitalization:
Among 162 patients with hospitalization information available, 22 (14%) were hospitalized
Zero deaths. There’s no word on exactly what “hospitalization” means. We don’t know if they were bed ridden for days or if they simply visited a hospital.
Excerpt on the response to this outbreak by health officials and Raw Farm:
On October 24, 2023, in response to the epidemiologic evidence and the Salmonella-positive raw milk sample, dairy farm A halted production and voluntarily recalled its raw milk. The recall included fluid milk and heavy cream with best-by dates of October 11–November 6, 2023; recalled lots were destroyed or held at the facility for aged cheese production, with cheese to be held under impound by CFDA. Raw cheese made from the contaminated milk lots tested positive after 60 days of aging and was not distributed for retail sale. CDFA conducted a sanitary inspection of the raw milk bottling and cheese making plant on October 25, and a joint inspection of the dairy farm on October 27 along with county environmental health inspectors. The farm’s internal testing detected Salmonella in milk from a recently purchased cow; the isolate was not further characterized. The cow was removed from the herd, and subsequent testing of the herd did not detect Salmonella. These efforts met CDFA requirements, allowing production to recommence on October 31, 2023. Extensive public messaging regarding this outbreak was issued by LHDs and CDPH in October 2023, including press releases and social media posts. Messaging instructed consumers to discard any recalled brand A milk or heavy cream; advised those experiencing symptoms of salmonellosis, including diarrhea, fever, vomiting, or abdominal pain to seek medical care; and recommended consuming pasteurized dairy products to prevent foodborne illnesses.
Product was immediately removed from shelves after discovering this contamination. It was discovered that one new cow, recently added to the herd, was responsible for contaminating products with Salmonella. This cow was identified, removed, and the contamination was eliminated.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s position and actions have been solid, but of course various media organizations and social media influencers opposed to raw milk choose to go ham on the subject.
It’s possible that this problem cow could’ve been identified and removed earlier, but that’s a boring technical discussion that requires some actual brainpower. Instead, various media orgs are leaning into the “look at these crazy people and think of the children.” They should know by now that this doesn’t work, they did go to college and that means they’re smart, yet they bang their head against the proverbial brick wall.
This record outbreak is much smaller than other recent outbreaks, which media and health officials tread much lighter on, so it ends up being another example of why their influence is shrinking.
Why punch down at raw milk farmers?
If media organizations were to attack Boar’s Head for killing ten people, that company has a team of lawyers who can comb through news articles and make sure nobody went too far in criticizing their business. Apple News, which I listen to regularly, touted this situation as an example of our regulatory bodies working. I agree. This explanation is never offered to raw milk farmers, even though the same exact thing is happening here – but with less harm occurring overall. Pathogens exist, early detection systems have been created to reduce harm, and they work.
Raw milk farmers are much smaller and tend to lack the defensive options available to bigger food producers. It’s easier and safer for news agencies to punch down, and that’s what they’ve decided to do, so be the civilizational consequences.
It really is that simple, these stodgy airheads are attacking farms who cannot fight back and thus destroying trust in their own institutions. While I’d rather they evolve into something relevant in our current era, and the future, they seem to have a death wish. So be it, let them be destroyed by their own hubris, at the hand of a bunch of evangelical goofballs, so that we can rebuild them after some even bigger tragedy prompts a resurgence in the core values that created public health.
