From foodconsumer.org
Dairy operators question whether raw milk was source of E. coli
By FSNET
Dec 16, 2005, 20:44
The Associated Press/ The Columbian stories
KELSO, December 16, 2005-- Michael and Anita Puckett, operators of the Dee Creek Farm in Woodland, have, according to this story, been ordered to give health officials the names of people who received raw milk that investigators blame for an outbreak of E. coli-related illness in 11 people, including nine children.
Representing themselves in court, the Pucketts submitted a written statement saying they were seeking written authorization from shareholders who receive the milk for release of their names.
Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge James E. Warme was cited as advising the couple he was unconvinced that the shareholders were entitled to expect their names could remain secret under the circumstances, but added that under the court order the information would remain private to the extent that the law allows.
The stories note that the Pucketts have not commented on the E. coli outbreak, but after the hearing their daughter, Summer Steenbarger, questioned whether unpasteurized milk was to blame, although she said workers at the dairy also had gotten sick.
Steenbarger was further cited as saying that the southwestern Washington farm, which ignored a demand in August to obtain a $55 state license to supply raw milk, is now about to apply for one.
A phone message left by The Associated Press seeking comment from the farm was not immediately returned Thursday, and a subsequent call rang unanswered.
Health officials were cited as saying raw milk from the Pucketts' small dairy operation has sickened at least two adults and nine children, two of them critically, and asked that anyone who consumed Dee Creek dairy products contact local health departments.
The affected children were 1 to 13 years old, according to a Clark County Health Department statement. Eight cases were reported in southwestern Washington, seven in Clark County and one in neighboring Cowlitz County, and the other three were in nearby Clatsop County, Ore.
Two children remained hospitalized in critical condition, while three others had been treated at hospitals and released, the Clark County statement said.
Steenbarger said that three Dee Creek employees sought medical attention for diarrhea, a typical symptom of E. coli-related illness, about the time the first of the more serious cases were reported, but their symptoms were not severe enough to warrant testing.
She asserted that milk from the farm had tested clean three times in recent weeks and suggested that the cause of the illnesses might lie elsewhere.
Claudia Coles, the state Agriculture Department's food safety officer, was quoted as saying, "They're not a licensed, legal dairy operation, so right now they are shut down."
Dee Creek operators have denied selling the product, saying it is only distributed under a cow-share program in which consumers buy shares in an animal in exchange for part of the milk, but Coles and other officials say that arrangement is legal only if the state license is obtained.
Chrys Ostrander, spokesman for the Washington Association of Shareholder Dairy Owners, was cited as saying Dee Creek's owners had their milk tested after learning of the outbreak and found no traces of E. coli but nonetheless told everyone who received milk from the farm to dump it, adding, "I consider them to be careful and conscientious farmers for whom this whole thing is a shock. It's difficult for them, and of course it's difficult for the people who are ill, too."
Lorrie Conway, who operates Conway Family Farms outside Camas with her family, one of six dairies in Washington licensed to sell raw milk and has a loyal clientele of 30 families who drink their raw goat milk, was cited as saying she was worried how her customers would respond after news of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to raw milk from Dee Creek Farms emerged on Tuesday, adding, "I must admit I put some milk in the fridge on Tuesday for pickup and kind of held my breath, wondering if anybody was going to show."
They did. All her regular pickups were made.
The story explains that Conway wrote a letter to the editor and sent it off to newspapers in the area, The Columbian, The Oregonian, the Camas Post-Record, the Longview Daily News and others. Then she sent copies of the letter along with a special note to her raw-milk customers explaining the precautions she takes in milk production.
Conway was quoted as saying, "My sense of the people who buy milk from me is they've educated themselves, that they know the risks. It's always a concern. It would be devastating if someone got ill from drinking our milk; it would kill me."
She said raw-milk producers must follow the same safety rules as those making pasteurized milk. Under state regulations, raw milk must be chilled to 40 degrees within an hour of milking. Conway Family Farms keeps it a little cooler than that, just to be safe, she said.
Conway was further quoted as saying, "I felt like it was important to be proactive and get the message out. When you're a licensed dairy, as we are, we operate under a license that means we meet standards that ensure we sell a safe product."
Republished from Food Safety Network.ca with permission
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