Raw milk sickens 21 people in Florida including 6 children

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Six children are among 21 people who have E. coli or campylobacter infections after consuming raw milk from a farm in Florida, public health officials said.

Seven people have been hospitalized, and at least two of them are suffering severe complications, the Florida Department of Health said Monday. It did not specify if any of the six infected children under 10 are among those being treated in hospitals, nor how many people were infected by E. coli, campylobacter or both bacteria.

“Sanitation practices in this farm are of particular concern due to the number of cases,” reads the state advisory, which did not identify the farm linked to the cluster of infections in northeast and central Florida.

Raw milk appears to be gaining in popularity, despite years of warnings about the health risks of drinking unpasteurized products. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say raw milk is one of the “riskiest” foods people can consume.

Raw milk is far more likely than pasteurized milk to cause illnesses and hospitalizations because of dangerous bacteria such as campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli, research shows. The infections can cause gastrointestinal illness, and in some cases may lead to serious complications, including a life-threatening form of kidney failure. Young children, the elderly, immunocompromised people and pregnant women are at greater risk of complications.

“We invented pasteurization for a reason,” said Keith Schneider, a food safety professor at the University of Florida. “It's maddening that this is happening.”

States have widely varying regulations regarding raw milk, with some allowing retail purchases in stores and others allowing sale only at farms. Some states allow “cowshares,” in which customers buy milk produced by designated animals, and some allow consumption only by farm owners, employees or “non-paying guests.”

In Florida, the sale and distribution of raw milk for human consumption is illegal, but retailers get around the ban by labeling their products as for pet or animal food only. Schneider called it a “wink, wink, nudge, nudge,” form of regulation.

“Everybody knows that they're selling it for human consumption,” Schneider said, adding that people getting sick — or even seriously ill — from drinking raw milk is “not a question of if, but when.”

___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.