Ten Raw Milk Product Outbreaks in Six Months - Where is the outrage from the Raw Milk Industry?

Posted by Bill Marler on June 30, 2010

A Longmont, Colorado goat dairy that has been ordered to stop distributing raw milk products after 16 people became ill after drinking milk. Two children who drank goat milk from the Billy Goat Dairy required hospitalization, Boulder County Public Health reported Wednesday. Of the people who reported becoming ill from consuming the milk products, lab tests confirmed the presence of Campylobacter and E. coli O157:H7, the health department said.

Health department officials in Minnesota this month reported five E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to drinking raw milk from a dairy in Gibbon, Minnesota. All of the sick were infected with a strain of bacteria that has the same “pulsed field gel electrophoresis” (PFGE) pattern, or DNA fingerprint. One infected child developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), a potentially deadly complication.

Counting Colorado and Minnesota, there have now been at least ten outbreaks of illness tied to raw milk since January 2010. The other states with outbreaks include Nevada, Utah (two outbreaks), New York, and Pennsylvania. There was also a multistate outbreak with illnesses confirmed in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. Washington has had two as well. And, even worse, these outbreaks involved at least three different pathogens: E. coli O157:H7; Salmonella, and Campylobacter. More specifically:

• In January, a dairy farm in New York was linked to five Campylobacter infections.

• Another outbreak of Campylobacter was reported in February in Pennsylvania. State health officials there said approximately ten people became ill after drinking raw milk. One of the ill developed Guillain - Barre Syndrome, became paralyzed, and is still hospitalized.

• In March, raw milk caused at least seventeen Campylobacter infections in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana.

• In April, Utah was the site of Salmonella and Campylobacter outbreaks tied to raw milk. The first cluster included nine reported cases of Campylobacter infection. The second cluster included six reported cases of Salmonella.

• In May, Nevada health officials reported that a child became seriously ill with a Campylobacter infection after eating homemade raw milk cheese that was illegally sold door-to-door.

• Washington has had two E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks both linked to the same dairy.

Raw Milk Dairy is having a problem and it needs to be fixed.

South Gate Meat Recalls Hamburger Tainted with E. coli

Posted by E. coli Lawyer on June 23, 2010

South Gate Meat Co., a South Gate, Calif., establishment, is recalling approximately 35,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The products subject to recall include:

20-, 30- and 40-pound bulk packages of "SOUTH GATE MEAT CO. GROUND BEEF."
30-, 40-, and 50-pound bulk packages of "SOUTH GATE MEAT CO. COARSE GROUND BEEF."
10- and 20-pound packages of "SOUTH GATE MEAT CO. GROUND BEEF PATTIES."

Each package bears establishment number "EST. 6217" inside the USDA mark of inspection. These ground beef products were produced between the dates of June 7, 2010, through June 21, 2010, and were shipped to restaurants in the Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif. area.

Crown I Enterprises Recalls 3,700 Pounds E. coli-tainted Hamburger

Posted by E. coli Attorney on June 22, 2010

Crown I Enterprises, Inc., a Bay Shore, N.Y., establishment, is recalling approximately 3,700 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The products subject to recall include:

• 24, 8-ounce burgers in 12-pound boxes of "W.B. STOCKYARD, KEEP REFRIGERATED, BURGER FRESH, WB HOME STYLE 8 OZ."
• 32, 6-ounce burgers in 12-pound boxes of "W.B. STOCKYARD, KEEP REFRIGERATED, BURGER FRESH 6 OZ."
• 48, 4-ounce burgers in 12-pound boxes of "W.B. STOCKYARD, KEEP REFRIGERATED, BURGER FRESH, 4 OZ."
• 10-pound boxes of "W.B. STOCKYARD, KEEP REFRIGERATED, BEEF GROUND/EXTRA LEAN."
• 10- and 20-pound boxes of "W.B. STOCKYARD, KEEP REFRIGERATED, BEEF GROUND 80/20."

Each package bears establishment number "EST. 20889" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well the Julian dates of "10164" and "10166." These ground beef products were produced on June 11, 2010, and June 15, 2010, and were shipped to food service institutions in Conn., N.J., and N.Y.

E. coli O157 implicated in Two The Dalles Oregon Deaths

Posted by E. coli Lawyer on June 19, 2010

E. coli O157 has been implicated in the deaths of two The Dalles residents this past week.  The deaths appear to be confined to one household and are not linked to any known outbreak, according to a press release issued Friday by Teri Thalhofer, director of the North Central Public Health District.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the family,” Thalhofer said.

Judge Approves E. coli Settlement

Posted by E. coli Lawyer on June 16, 2010

A federal judge has approved a settlement between Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. and a Cold Spring woman injured by contaminated meat.

U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank signed off on the settlement in a sealed court order Tuesday. Terms of the settlement were undisclosed.

Our client, former children's dance instructor Stephanie Smith sued after E. coli in a Cargill-made hamburger left her paralyzed. Smith was the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times story (found here) about food safety.

Three Beef Feedlots in Iowa Face Civil Enforcement Actions as EPA Continues Emphasis on Compliance with Clean Water Act

Posted by E. coli Attorney on June 09, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., June 9, 2010) - EPA Region 7 has taken a series of civil enforcement actions against three beef feedlot operations in Iowa for violations of the Clean Water Act, as part of a continuing enforcement emphasis aimed at ending harmful discharges of pollutants from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) into the region’s rivers and streams.

“In some instances, we are finding harmful bacteria such as E.coli in wastewater discharged by feedlots at levels that are exponentially higher than the levels at which EPA permits municipal wastewater treatment systems to discharge their treated wastewater,” EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. “This is just one measure of the harm that can come when feedlots fail to operate within the law.”

Runoff from CAFOs may contain such pollutants as pathogens and sediment, as well as nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, all of which can harm aquatic life and impact water quality.

Of the three most recent enforcement actions, one involves a civil penalty against a CAFO for failure to comply with its national Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Bruce Feedlot, of Hastings, Iowa, has agreed to pay a $31,573 civil penalty for its unauthorized discharges of pollutants to Indian Creek and its tributaries in Mills County, Iowa. EPA’s settlement with Bruce Feedlot is subject to a 40-day public comment period before it becomes final.

The remaining two enforcement actions involve administrative compliance orders issued to medium-sized CAFOs, which are feedlots that confine between 300 and 999 cattle. EPA has documented significant water quality problems associated with medium CAFOs and is making enforcement at these operations a priority:

Groeneweg Farm, of Rock Valley, Iowa, must apply for an NPDES permit and complete wastewater controls at its facilities by October 31, 2011, to end unauthorized discharges of pollutants into an unnamed tributary of the Rock River in Sioux County, Iowa.

Gradert/Cla-Don/Winterfeld Feedlot, of Ireton, Iowa, must apply for an NPDES permit and complete wastewater controls at its facilities by October 31, 2011, to end unauthorized discharges of pollutants into Six Mile Creek in Sioux County, Iowa.

Five Victims Linked to Minnesota Raw Milk Dairy

Posted by E. coli Lawyer on June 03, 2010

A fifth victim has been linked to an E. coli outbreak at a southern Minnesota dairy farm.  Four cases were reported last week, and all of those involved have been discharged from the hospital. The fifth case is a young child who was not hospitalized.  The other people sickened by E. coli in dairy products from the farm ranged in age from toddlers to a 70-year-old adult.  Three of the five victims of the E. coli outbreak were hospitalized. All have since been released.

The investigators say test results prove the E. coli came from the Michael Hartmann dairy near Gibbon. The farm sells raw, unpasteurized milk and cheese.  The state Agriculture Department's Nicole Neeser says the E. coli found at the farm and in the victims has the same DNA fingerprint.

"Samples collected from multiple animals and from multiple environmental sites on the Hartmann farm are indistinguishable from samples collected from the humans that were ill," said Neeser. "It's very important to note that this is a rare strain of E. coli, and it hasn't been seen in Minnesota before."