Almost three years to the day after the California Department of Food and Agriculture issued a recall of Claravale Farm raw milk products for possible Campylobacter contamination, it issued another one.
Both times there had been reports of illness that “weren’t definitively linked to the products.” Both times the recall was for raw milk, raw nonfat milk and raw cream produced at San Benito County farm.
Retail sales of raw milk are legal in California if the the farm is licensed. Claravale Farm does have a license.
Campylobacter infections are commonly associated with raw milk. Campylobacter is a pathogen that is transfered via the fecal-oral route, meaning those who develop Campylobacter infections have ingested microscopic amounts of animal feces. Pasteurization kills Campylobacter and other bacteria that cause disease.
Symptoms of campylobacteriosis include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. Most people with an infection recover on their own. However, for some people it can cause a serious, life-threatening infection. A small percentage of people may develop reactive arthritis which causes joint pain and swelling after infection. Or, they may develop Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a condition that causes weakness and paralysis which can occur several weeks after the initial illness.
