Food Safety Lawyer Fred Pritzker on Raw Milk Dangers
After Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle vetoed a bill in May that would have made it legal to sell raw milk in the state, the conversation about whether raw milk is safe is still going in Wisconsin and around the country. Food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker represents people across the country who have become sick after drinking raw milk.
“My clients have been very seriously injured by drinking raw milk that they were told was safe,” Pritzker says. “It is clearly an unsafe product and shouldn’t be sold. The risks of illness are simply too high.”
Pritzker commented on Green Bay, Wisconsin’s NBC26 for a recent story on the issue:
Campylobacter and E. coli are two pathogens that can be found in raw, unpasteurized milk. Both can make people extremely ill, especially the elderly and very young children. Campylobacter can lead to Guillain Barre syndrome, which paralyzed one of Pritzker’s clients for life. E. coli can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which can cause lifelong kidney problems and can in some cases be deadly.
Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak Linked to Hartmann Dairy Farm in Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has released new evidence that an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 5 Minnesotans is linked to raw milk products from the Hartmann Dairy Farm in Gibbon, Minnesota. The strain of E. coli bacteria that sickened these people came from Hartmann Dairy Farm, according to the MDH.
Several victims were hospitalized, including a toddler with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a serious complication that can arise from E. coli poisoning and can do life-long kidney damage to patients, especially the very young and the elderly. These illnesses occurred throughout the state of Minnesota. Initially, the common link between these illnesses, health officials say, was that they had all consumed products from the Hartmann dairy farm. This epidemiological link, however, is now reinforced by the MDH’s confirmation through microbiological testing that the strain of E. coli found on the farm is the same strain found in the patients. Additionally, the MDH reports:
“…the specific strain of E. coli O157:H7 found in the ill patients has also been found in multiple animals and at multiple sites on the Hartmann farm. This strain of E. coli has not previously been found in Minnesota. Furthermore, laboratory tests confirmed that cheese samples collected last week from the farm contained another form of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, demonstrating that an ongoing pathway of contamination existed on the farm.”
The food safety lawyers at Pritzker Olsen attorneys currently represent a man sickened from raw milk contaminated with Campylobacter. He developed Guillain-Barre syndrome as is now paralyzed. Our attorneys are all too familiar with the dangers that can arise from consuming raw milk.
What is Raw Milk? Why Can it Make Us Sick?
Most milk in the supermarket is pasteurized in order to kill potentially harmful bacteria, such as E. coli and Campylobacter. However, some people believe raw, or unpasteurized milk is more nutritious than pasteurized milk and choose to drink it. Public health organizations such as the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics all advocate pasteurization as a standard practice.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture restricts the sale of raw milk to occasional sales of milk directly from the farmer to consumer. If consumers choose to drink raw milk, the MDA urges that they:
- Do their homework: consumers should educate themselves on how to consume raw milk SAFELY and RESPONSIBLY
- Consumers MUST go directly to the farm to get the milk, according to Minnesota law.
- Consumers MUST bring their own containers. Farmers are NOT allowed to bottle their own raw milk for sale.
E. coli Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome Case In MN Raw Milk Outbreak
A Hartmann Dairy Farm E. coli raw milk outbreak in Minnesota has left one toddler in the hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome (E. coli HUS) and infected three other Minnesotans with the dangerous pathogen, E. coli 0157:H7.
The other three E coli victims include a 70-year-old man and two school-aged children. The Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed that all four cases involve the same strain of Ecoli, with the same DNA fingerprint. Three of the four cases are reportedly linked to raw milk produced by Hartmann Dairy Farm of Gibbon, MN. The Minnesota health department urged in a press release:
“anyone who may have recently purchased milk from the Hartmann Dairy Farm, also known as M.O.M.’s, to discard the product and not consume it.”
The MDH press release also mentions that the milk may be labeled simply as “organic” and consumers may not be aware that the milk is raw and unpasteurized. Some people believe that raw, unpasteurized milk is healthier than pasteurized milk, although scientific evidence on this point is inconclusive.
Pasteurization makes milk safer for human consumption and it is illegal to sell raw, unpasteurized milk across state lines. In Minnesota, the sale of raw milk is heavily regulated by law. However, new facts have surfaced about the owner and operator of Hartmann Dairy Farms, showing he has resisted regulations. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
“Michael Hartmann, whose dairy is just outside this town of 800 people, last had a license to sell Grade A milk in 2001. He has kicked inspectors off his property, refused to tell a judge his name in court and asserted he is a “natural man” with a constitutional right to raise and sell food without government interference.”
About E. coli and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
Symptoms of an E. coli infection are initially painful and uncomfortable, and may include abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea and nausea. They may begin 2 to 5 days after the contaminated food or fluids are consumed. However, the infection can soon turn life-threatening if it develops into Ecoli HUS syndrome (hemolytic uremic syndrome). This can cause kidney failure, requiring dialysis treatment and leaving long-lasting effects that can severely affect the victim’s quality of life for years to come.
Wisconsin Governor Vetoes Raw Milk Bill
After months of debate, Governor Jim Doyle vetoed Senate Bill 434, which would have made it legal to sell raw, unpasteurized milk in Wisconsin. In his letter to the Wisconsin Senate regarding yesterday’s veto, Governor Doyle stated the following:
I cannot ignore potential harmful health effects of consuming unpasteurized milk that have been raised by many groups, including: the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Wisconsin Public Health Association, the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians, the Wisconsin Medical Society, Marshfield Clinic, Gundersen Lutheran and the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association.
The sale of unpasteurized milk has become an increasingly contentious issue in Wisconsin and around the country. I recognize that there are strong feelings on both sides of this matter, but I must side with public health and the safety of the dairy industry. Therefore, I am vetoing this bill.
Raw Milk E. Coli Threat Ignored in Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Assembly early this morning passed a bill legalizing the sale of raw milk for public consumption.
The 60-35 vote overrode serious health concerns raised by the state’s own disease experts, pediatricians, food safety groups and farm bureau. County health investigators from around the state had testified about the dangers such a law would pose — increasing the public’s exposure to toxic micro-organisms.
E. coli O157:H7 is one of the threats that will lurk in the commercial trade of raw milk because pasteurization is required to kill the pathogen, which can be expressed through a cow’s udders but also can contaminate milk supplies via the incidental spread of cow feces in milking environments.
Campylobacter and Salmonella can also contaminate raw milk in this way and outbreaks of these illnesses have happened already this year in several states, including Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Rep. Andy Jorgensen (D-Fort Atkinson) told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he opposed the bill because the public currently sees the state’s signature product as “delicious, nutritious and safe.”
“I don’t want to tarnish that,” Jorgensen said.
Under the legislation, sales could take place only at farms where the milk was produced. The bill would sunset on Dec. 31, 2011. Farmers would have to post a sign declaring that raw milk may contain organisms that cause disease.
The bill, a similar version of which was previously passed by the state Senate, also would have to say that raw milk is not recommended for certain people, including the very young and very old, women who are pregnant or nursing, and individuals with diabetes or compromised immune systems.
