By Leah Douglas and Lisa Baertlein
(Reuters) – California has paused distribution of raw milk products from the company Raw Farm after retail testing of two samples of its products detected bird flu, state officials said on Tuesday.
Bird flu has spread among U.S. dairy cattle since March, and has infected nearly 500 herds in California, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Public health officials have warned against consuming raw milk because it can carry pathogens, including bird flu.
Raw Farm is the largest U.S. raw milk dairy, with 1700 cows producing 70,000 gallons (265,000 liters) of milk weekly, according to owner Mark McAfee.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says pasteurized milk products are safe because the pasteurization process kills the bird flu virus, California officials said.
Thirty states allow the sale of raw milk.
No people are known to have contracted bird flu from consuming raw milk, but cats have died after drinking it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Raw milk makes up less than 1% of U.S. milk sales and is among the items including psychedelics and sunshine that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run Health and Human Services, has said are being suppressed by the FDA.
The California Department of Public Health issued recalls for two lots of Raw Farm products last week after retail testing by officials in Santa Clara county.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture said on Tuesday that the farm is under quarantine and distribution of its raw milk product is suspended. State dairy inspectors sampled milk on the farm on Nov. 27 that tested positive for bird flu the following day, said spokesperson Steve Lyle.
Raw Farm’s McAfee said he is being vetted by Kennedy’s team for a potential policy position at the FDA and that Kennedy is a consumer of his products.
Kennedy must be confirmed by the Senate after Trump takes office in January. A spokesperson for Kennedy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McAfee expects his distribution will be paused for one to two months, and in the meantime is sending his milk to the bulk milk supply to be pasteurized and sold under other labels.
Santa Clara is the only California county testing retail milk products for bird flu, said the state health department. The county public health department said it has tested a retail container of raw milk from every dairy that sells raw milk in the county each week since June.
The USDA in October said it would begin a national bulk milk testing effort to attempt to further contain the spread of the virus among dairy cattle.
Nearly 60 people have contracted bird flu this year in the U.S., including 31 in California, most of them farm workers with exposure to sick poultry or cattle, according to the CDC.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas; editing by Caroline Hume and Sandra Maler)
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