The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) is warning consumers to not drink Dungeness Valley Creamery brand raw Jersey whole milk, raw Jersey skim milk, and raw Jersey cream because they may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria that can cause serious illness. Shiga toxin producing E. coli can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause kidney failure, strokes, and seizures.
Those products from that farm with any best by dates of 03/02/13 or later may be contaminated. Those products are available in gallon, half gallon, quart, and pint containers. This alert includes all container sizes of the unpasteurized milk and cream.
Routine sampling by WSDA found toxin-producing E. coli in a sample of raw cream. No human illnesses have been linked with these products to date. The products were sold at these retail locations: Real Foods, Pan D’Amore, and Walt’s Lynwood Center Market on Banbridge Island; Tru Health in Bothell; CJ’s Evergreen General Store and Fresh Local in Bremerton; Marlene’s Market and Deli in Federal Way; Front Street Red Apple in Issaquah. The products were also sold at Country Village Nutrition Shoppe in Longview; Olympia Food Co-op East and Olympia Food Co-op West in Olympia; Country Aire and Good to Go in Port Angeles; Port Townsend Food Co-op in Port Townsend; Abundantly Green in Poulsbo; Madison Market, My Asia’s Essentials, and Pike Place Markt Creamery in Seattle. Finally, they were also sold in Sequim Prairie Grange, Red Rooster Grocery, and Sunny Farms Farm Store in Sequim; Marlene’s Market & Deli in Tacoma; and Chuck’s Produce and Neighbors Market in Vancouver.
The billetin states, “retail raw milk is legal to sell and buy in Washington, but there are serious potential health risks. Consumers should read the warning label on the retail raw milk container carefully and ask their retailer to verify the milk was produced and processed by a WSDA-licensed operation.”
