After a Campylobacter outbreak linked to its raw milk prompted a suspension of sales, Family Cow has been cleared by Pennsylvania health officials to resume raw milke sales. The outbreak was the third less than two years to be associated with The Family Cow farm in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
In this outbreak, two people who consumed raw milk from the farm developed campylobacteriosis, the infection caused by ingesting the bacteria Campylobacter. In May 2013, at least five people were sickened by Campylobacter in a raw milk outbreak linked to the farm. And in January 2012, the farm was the source of the largest raw milk outbreak in Pennsylvania history. Several people were hospitalized.
Raw milk sales are legal in Pennsylvania as long as producers pass mandatory inspections. But health officials say raw milk is a high-risk food that can cause serious illness. Because it is not pasteurized, raw milk can conFamily Cow sells raw milk in plastic gallon, half gallon, quart and pint containers directly to consumers through on-farm sales, at drop off locations and at retail stores around Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, and south-central Pennsylvania.
After receiving complaints of illness in late July, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture went to the farm on 3854 Olde Scotland Road and collected samples of raw milk on July 29, 2013. Positive test results for Campylobacter were confirmed on Monday, Aug. 5.
