Government agencies in many countries have been biased against raw milk and raw dairy products for over a century. This is true in the United States as well, even though Dr Henry Coit and the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions demonstrated that raw milk could be produced carefully and hygienically as a low-risk food all the way back in the late 1800’s.
Anti-raw milk smear campaigns and propaganda have been used continually to make people fearful of raw milk and raw milk products. In reality, raw milk can be produced as a low-risk food when farmers are trained and use careful production practices.
Of course, there is no such thing as a perfectly safe food, as evidenced by the ongoing illness outbreaks linked to foods such as cantaloupes, leafy greens, and chicken. Pasteurized milk is not perfectly safe, either, and is implicated in foodborne illnesses and outbreaks every year. For instance, in 2007, there was an outbreak of Listeriosis in Massachusetts which was associated with pasteurized milk. Overall, there were five cases identified and three deaths occurred.
Nonetheless, only raw milk and raw milk products are targeted by government agencies as being unsafe.
My Family’s Farm is Being Targeted
In the latest example of anti raw milk bias, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently targeted raw cheese from my family’s farm (RAW Farm). On February 15th 2024, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the FDA urgently demanded to speak with us. We had 30 minutes notice for a call that was attended by about a dozen people from the CDC and FDA.
Our raw cheeses are sold nationally at over 1,300 grocery stores. We were told that the CDC’s PULSENET database had associated 10 illnesses to our raw cheese products over the last 5 months. The CDC and FDA admitted that, out of these 10 illnesses, half of those who became ill denied ever having consumed our cheese.
Nonetheless, the FDA gave us two alternatives: either 1) voluntarily recall all of our cheese sold in the USA, or 2) they would force a mandatory recall of all our cheeses.
Our own internal tests performed on every batch of raw cheese were all negative for pathogens. The state of California’s tests on our cheeses were also all negative for pathogens. Nonetheless, we chose to fully comply with a voluntary recall of all raw cheeses within a specified date range. Although we needed a lot more information and answers to questions, out of an abundance of caution we recalled all of our cheeses on February 16th 2024.
Searching for Answers to Many Questions
Over a 10-day period during our voluntary recall, we dug into the data to see what we could learn. We were patient and did not comment, but instead we just collected information and considered every piece of data in our investigation.
We asked the FDA to provide the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) test data gathered by PULSENET. We conferred with experts from a testing lab who concluded that the WGS data was inconsistent from person to person and did not match as having a single cause. The CDC appears to have picked and selected data to match a narrative and ignored other data and date ranges.
By February 25th, we had considered all the data from the FDA as well as mountains of internal test data and state test data. There was never any evidence that our cheese contained pathogens.
Clear Bias from the FDA and CDC
In handling this situation, the FDA broke their own rules in numerous ways. They did not comply with their own Food Safety Modernization Act requirements or procedures.
The timing of this whole situation was conspicuous considering that it was in the middle of a nationwide recall of pasteurized cheeses due to Listeria. That outbreak is affecting 11-states and is associated with dozens of illnesses and two deaths.
Additionally, on February 17th despite lack of evidence, FDA Director Dr Stic Harris posted on his personal LinkedIn page a photo of our cheese along with a warning that “While my personal opinion is you should never drink raw milk or eat raw milk products, you certainly don’t want to eat raw milk cheese linked to an ongoing outbreak.” Raw milk was never even involved in this recall, only raw cheese. The bias against raw milk and raw milk products is clear.
The Accusations Were Baseless
It is clear from investigating all of the data that the FDA’s accusations against RAW Farm’s cheese were baseless. We stand with our consumers and our test data. The FDA can provide no evidence what so ever of any pathogens in any of our products.
As of February 26, we have now lifted our Voluntary Recall on our cheeses. You can read our full press release here:
Suffice it to say that as pioneers in the raw milk movement, we wage many battles. Some are scientific, some are political, and some are educational. In this case, the FDA refuses to acknowledge science and is protecting themselves and big industry. They are demonstrating extreme political bias and continue to refuse to become educated about how raw milk can be produced as a low-risk food.