Dairy linked to 5 E. coli cases
Food Safety News
by Dan Flynn | Nov 16, 2011
Organic Pastures raw dairy products are being recalled statewide in California and are subject to a quarantine order by California State Veterinarian Annette Whiteford.
The quarantine order came following notification by the California Department of Public Health that five children were infected, from August through October, with the same strain of E. coli O157:H7, the state said in a news release.
Under the recall, all Organic Pastures raw dairy products with the exception of cheese aged a minimum of 60 days are to be pulled immediately from retail shelves and consumers are strongly urged to dispose of any products remaining in their refrigerators.
Until further notice, Organic Pastures may not produce raw milk products for the retail market. The order also affects Organic Pastures raw butter, raw cream, raw colostrum, and a raw product labeled "Qephor," state public health officials said.
Organic Pastures has had past food-safety challenges, including being implicated in a 2006 outbreak very similar to the current recall and outbreak, and civil litigation brought by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent it from distributing unpasteurized milk across California's state lines.
The children who are ill are residents of Contra Costa, Kings, Sacramento, and San Diego counties, all in California.
Interviews with the families indicate that their only common reported food exposure was unpasteurized (raw) milk from Organic Pastures dairy. Three of the five children were hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious condition that may lead to kidney failure.
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