Claravale Farm Raw Goat Milk Linked to Cases of Campylobacteriosis
Claravale Farm is a well-known dairy product distributor located in the state of California. The company lives up to their motto by producing “pure, natural and raw” dairy products for their customers, which includes raw, unpasteurized milk products. Among these raw milk varieties include goat milk, known for its nutritional and health benefits.
With a nutrient profile similar to that of cow’s milk, goat milk’s additional health benefits is what draws a consumer’s attention. More notably, goat milk contains less allergenic proteins, easily digestible fats and proteins, and lower in cholesterol. For more information about the benefits of goat milk, please visit this site.
Drinking goat milk does not seem to be quite a bad idea; however, consuming raw goat milk on the other hand, might be. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States warns consumers about the risks associated with drinking raw milk. Although raw, unpasteurized milk is nutritionally dense, it contains a wide variety of disease-causing bacteria, including Brucella, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Mycobacterium bovis, Listeria, and Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli. Any individual that drinks raw milk has the risk of consuming such bacteria; thus, increasing the risk of illness. The risk of illness from consumption is particularly high for infants and young children, elderly, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems.
On June 2015, the Health Officials in Orange County, California confirmed three cases of campylobacteriosis linked with Claravale Farm, due to the consumption of raw goat milk. The three cases were three young children less than 5 years of age. One of the children was hospitalized, but fortunately, all three were expected to fully recover. Campylobacteriosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria, Campylobacter. Its symptoms are seen within two to five days after exposure, and typically include diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain and fever. This infectious bacterium is commonly associated with contaminated water, poultry, produce, and in this case, unpasteurized dairy products.
The risk of getting campylobacteriosis is not solely limited to consuming raw goat milk; it applies to other raw, unprocessed products as well. Earlier in year during March 2015, six individuals from North California were diagnosed with campylobacteriosis after drinking Claravale Farm’s raw milk. The farm’s raw milk and cream products were then subjected to a statewide recall when the California Department of Public Health tested positive for Campylobacter. A similar situation occurred previously in March 2012, where positive test results for Campylobacter led to a statewide recall of Claravale Farm’s raw products.
Claravale Farm is a strong and passionate company that is proud of their raw products, as demonstrated by their statement found on their company website:
“Raw milk is unique in that it is the only significant source of a complete food in our diet that is not processed in some form being eaten. For instance, the enzymes are all available, whereas in pasteurized milk, less than 10% remain. What this means, is that your body can more readily utilize all of the nutrition that is available in this milk. That’s good for you, and it’s great for your kids!”
Truthfully, there is no ‘perfect’ milk product. Indeed, pasteurized milk lacks the enzymes and natural nutrient profile found in raw milk. However, pasteurized milk also lacks the wide range of disease-causing bacteria raw milk contains. It is the pasteurization process that helps eliminate such bacteria to produce a food safe product ready for consumption. Yet, it is also the pasteurization process that eliminates the beneficial enzymes and natural nutrient profile present in the raw milk. This can be an on-going debate, but ultimately, the decision is upon the consumer, you.
What is your ultimate decision? Raw or processed milk?
Interested in the taste difference between goat’s milk and cow’s milk?
Curious about the effects of Campylobacter?
teewong, 
RainShen, 
Rain Shen, and 9 others are discussing. 
JorgeMadrigalPons, 
EmilyChow, 
AngeliMalimban, and 11 others are discussing. 
TamaraRitchie 11:38 am on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
While I believe that buying raw milk should be an individual choice and each individual should decide if the health benefits outweigh the risk of disease, I am not comfortable with the idea of individuals buying raw milk products and feeding raw milk products to their children. Children are more immunological acceptable to food borne pathogens and the outcomes of contracting a food borne pathogen can be more severe than in a healthy adult. For this reason I am against the sale of raw milk products because once in the consumers hand there is no way to control who he/she shares these raw milk products with.
CherylLau 3:29 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk products, however, I believe that responsibility falls on everyone to prevent cases of food bourne illness. Manufacturers should be responsible for upholding the regulations for such products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed in the dangers associated with the products before purchasing and feeding them to people who are highly susceptible to food bourne illnesses. Raw milk itself has many benefits and it would be unfair to ban it from the market if it was deemed safe to consume.
CherylLau 3:49 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk and its products, however, I believe that the responsiblity falls on everyone to prevent food bourne illness. Manufacturers should uphold the regulations set for these types of products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed and to be aware of the dangers associated with feeding these types of products to people who are highly susceptible to food boure illnesses. Raw milk products have many benefits as stated above, it would be unfair to exclude them from the market due to the chance of careless practices, as long as they are deemed safe to consume.
ColleenChong 11:22 am on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
A small portion of the population, such as dairy farmers, would have immunity to most of the bacteria found in raw milk since they been exposed to that environment for a period of time. But most people in the urban areas do not have this immunity and would have a much higher risk of getting sick, especially the elderly and young children. As for obtaining loss nutrients it can be complement with other food source. I am against the sales of raw milk to the general public because the risk is too high. Food safety is key to public health.
Cheryl Lau 2:46 pm on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk and its products, however, I believe that the responsibility falls on everyone to prevent food borne illness. Manufacturers should uphold the regulations set for these types of products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed and to be aware of the dangers associated with feeding these types of products to people who are highly susceptible to food borne illnesses. Raw milk products have many benefits over pasteurized milk products as stated above, it would be unfair to exclude them from the market due to the chance of careless practices that might cause food borne illness, even if they were deemed safe to consume.
cheryl lau 2:59 pm on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk and its products, however, I believe that the responsibility falls on everyone to prevent the onset of food borne illnesses due to contaminated products. Manufacturers should uphold the regulations set for these types of products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed and to be aware of the dangers associated with feeding these types of products to people who are highly susceptible to food borne illnesses. Raw milk products have many benefits over the pasteurized varieties as stated above, it would be unfair to exclude them from the market due to the chance of careless practices, even if they were deemed safe to consume.
Catherine Wong 3:38 pm on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
I personally also feel that raw milk should not be available for purchase because of all that pathogens present causing harm that would have been killed off with pasteurization. However on the other hand, are we able to actually take away the choice to purchase raw milk from the consumers who are adamant on consuming it? If there is enough demand for it, producers would continue producing and selling it. For raw milk consumers, they should be educated on both the benefits and detrimental effects of consuming raw milk. I know people who are quite obsessed with consuming all natural products and actually try to promote drinking raw milk to others by talking about all the benefits and none of the harm. This is a problem especially if the people they are promoting to do not know about the pathogens associated with raw milk. For this aspect, I feel that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done with educating the general public on the line that needs to be drawn between wanting to consume less processed foods and to the point where it becomes a risk to human health.
catherine wong 6:22 pm on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
In my opinion, I feel that raw milk should not be readily available for purchase due to all the pathogens present, which could cause a lot of harm when pasteurization could have killed them off. However on the other hand, are we able to actually take away the choice from consumers who are adamant on purchasing and consuming raw milk? If there is enough demand for it, producers would continue producing and selling it. For raw milk consumers, they should be educated on both the benefits and detrimental effects of consuming raw milk. I know some people who really enjoy consuming unprocessed foods and are trying to promote drinking raw milk to others by talking about all the benefits, but none of the harm. This is a problem especially if the people they are promoting to do not know about the pathogens associated with raw milk. For this aspect, I feel that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done with educating the general public on the line that needs to be drawn between wanting to consume less processed foods and to the point where it becomes a risk to human health.
DonnaKong 11:09 pm on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
Personally, I prefer consuming pasteurized milk not only because I am used to the taste, but for my own safety. However, like many have already stated, there are pros and cons to both types. As Catherine mentioned, banning the products may not be as easy as it seems because many who enjoy raw milk and would be devastated if there was a ban in place. Indeed the prohibition of raw milk would not be fair for consumers as it restricts their choices. I believe that for a product such as this, there should be a new policy in which there are warnings required on the label of the milk. Similar to how tobacco is sold in Canada, there should be warnings of possible risks that come with the product. The consumer is still given the option of purchasing the milk but they can be more informed of the consequences and be given specifications on who is less suitable to consume the product (children under 5, seniors, immuno-compromised, etc.). I am not sure if there should be an age limit required to buy this product, but I definitely think that informing risks will help people understand and react quicker should there ever be presence of campylobacter bacteria.
MichelleLui 11:16 pm on October 11, 2015 Permalink |
As a consumer, I would drink raw goat milk from an approved producer, providing that its operations meet the established food safety guidelines of the government regulatory agency. There are many high risk food items out on the market and restaurants. I do think the supplier should provide sufficient food safety information on the products so the consumer can make a well-informed decision. As kids are one of the high-risk group to food poisoning, the company should emphasize the food safety risks associated with kids consuming raw goat milk. Especially when they sell their milk using statement such as “Great for your kids”.
Mandy Tam 4:11 pm on October 13, 2015 Permalink |
I understand that Canada does not allow raw milk to be sale in the market. Therefore, I do not think there is a negotiate point in Canada rather raw milk should be consume or not. According to this article, raw milk seems to be allowed to sale in America. Therefore, it will be interesting to know what extra step America takes to prevent outbreak caused by raw milk. Also, it will be interesting to have a professional to share the difference in regulation/ microbe protocol in America.
dgozali 7:22 pm on October 13, 2015 Permalink |
Although raw milk may have several health benefits such as digestible fats and lower cholesterol levels, the health risks are far greater. For this reason, I feel that raw milk should not be sold to consumers without stating the health risks associated with it. Ultimately, the consumer should be able to make a choice whether or not to take that risk. Furthermore, there should be an indication on the packaging regarding the risk groups such as children and immunocompromised people who may have a greater chance of falling ill from consuming raw milk.
MarinaMoon 4:42 pm on October 14, 2015 Permalink |
As many have already stated, I also believe that raw milk should remain prohibited in Canada. Although there are many health benefits associated with raw milk, the negative consequences are too severe to risk the population to consume raw milk. Also, we live in a location where food availability is relatively abundant thus there are so many other alternatives where those nutrients can be consumed. I don’t think it is necessary to allow production of raw milk and risk the outbreaks that may result as a result. Also, as many are already adapted to and familiar with the taste of pasteurized milk, even if raw milk becomes available, I don’t think it would be consumed widely despite the nutritious aspects that it provides. Additionally, I would personally prefer to drink milk that I can trust its safety rather than milk that I need to be cautious of so many different diseases everytime I drink.
Rain Shen 12:23 am on October 17, 2015 Permalink |
As a milk drinker, I personally prefer safe pasteurized milk rather than the nourishing raw milk. Food safety is the most critical point when I purchase food products. It is true that choosing raw milk or not is a very personal choice. Some raw food zealots are eating all kinds of food in raw. However, those beneficial enzymes and nutrients in the raw milk might be uptake from other type of food. Even if the enzymes and nutrients in the raw goat milk are unique , we can still uptake these nutrients from the supplements, but they are not that essential for our metabolism or health. On the other hand, there is a high risk to get sick or even severe diseases by consuming the raw milk. Not speaking of different kinds of negative effects of the following medical treatments for the sickness. In my opinion, it is not worth taking the risk to drink raw milk, which will be more likely to get infected by the bacteria in it. Government should prohibit the sale of raw milk to ensure the food safety of most people.
RainShen 12:59 am on October 17, 2015 Permalink |
As a milk drinker, I prefer safe pasteurized milk rather than nourishing raw milk. The safety of the food will be the most critical point when I purchase food products. It is true that choosing to purchase raw milk or not is a very personal choice. Some raw food zealots are eating all kinds of food in raw. However, the enzymes and nutrients in the raw milk might be uptake from other kinds of food. Even if the enzymes and nutrients in the raw goat milk are unique, we can still uptake them from the supplements, but these nutrients are not essential for our body metabolism or health. Not consuming those nutrients won’t hazard our health. On the other hand, the bacteria in the raw milk will be more likely to cause sickness or even severe diseases. Not speaking of the negative effects of the following medical treatments. In my opinion, it is not worth taking the risk to consume raw milk which has the high possibility to threaten your health. Government should prohibit the sale of raw milk to ensure the food safety of most people.
teewong 12:28 am on December 15, 2015 Permalink |
I suppose one of the biggest contradiction between raw and pasteurized milk is that what is the point of drinking milk when the all the available nutrients are depleted in a pasteurized milk? With most of the benefits swept away, is there really a need to drink milk? Of course, many people prefer drinking milk because they like the taste of it, so I suppose drinking fortified pasteurized milk (adding nutrients that were lost back into the milk due to pasteurization) would probably satisfy both the hazardous concerns and taste buds. I am not a milk drinker myself because I do not enjoy the taste very much and I have not tried raw milk before, so this issue does not really bother me. However, I do believe in consuming products in the most natural state and in the least processed way as much as possible due to their bioavailability. I believe that raw milk could help promote different types of microbiota to flourish in our gut, which could lead us to better prevent from contracting different types of diseases. If we strip away the nutrients from raw milk, I feel that it would just be useless and wasting our money on something that we do not necessarily need.