A California producer of unpasteurized raw milk, the preferred milk of Department of Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been forced by the state to suspend operations after officials found the bird flu virus in its products.
All operations at Raw Farm ― a Fresno-based producer of raw milk, cheeses, pet foods and other dairy products ― are “currently under quarantine, from herds to bottled product, which means that all raw milk product distribution is suspended,” Steve Lyle, director of public affairs for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said in a statement Monday.
The bird flu virus, or H5N1, was found in samples collected late last month, Lyle said.
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“CDFA dairy inspectors sampled milk from bottled products and bulk milk storage at Raw Farm’s bottling facility on Wednesday, Nov. 27, and laboratory test results made known on November 28 showed the presence of the bird flu virus,” he continued. “All milk tested by CDFA remained at the Raw Farm plant and was not released to consumers.”
State, county and federal officials are all continuing to investigate Raw Farm’s operations, Lyle said.
The suspension comes not long after Raw Farm voluntarily recalled two of its raw milk batches after the Santa Clara County Public Health Department detected bird flu in them.
Despite these ongoing issues, Raw Farm told CNN on Monday that Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead HHS, has asked the company’s CEO, Mark McAfee, to apply for the position of “FDA advisor on Raw Milk Policy and Standards Development.”
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Raw milk is milk that hasn’t been through the pasteurization process, which simply involves heating milk to a minimum temperature for a set amount of time in order to kill harmful bacteria and other pathogens that could sicken consumers with bird flu, E. coli, listeria and other serious diseases.
Although human cases of bird flu are uncommon, in part thanks to pasteurization, the viral infection can be deadly, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explicitly advises people not to consume raw milk due to its health risks.
Kennedy is a raw milk advocate who said in October that the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations on unpasteurized milk amount to “aggressive suppression” and a “war on public health.” The only major raw milk regulation from the FDA, which is under HHS, is an interstate sales ban.
In 2022, Kennedy said that for the past year he’d only consumed raw milk.
The FDA has thrown cold water on claims about the benefits of raw milk touted by its advocates, saying there’s no proof that any of the bacteria in raw milk is beneficial for gastrointestinal health and that there’s no evidence it treats asthma or allergies, cures lactose intolerance, or works more effectively than pasteurized milk at fending off osteoporosis.
The sale of raw milk is outlawed in several countries, including Canada and Australia, and in multiple U.S. states, including across much of the South and several red states.
