Earlier this week, the FDA announced a recall involving milk from Green Field Farms Dairy. The milk at issue is being recalled because an examination of the product revealed that it wasn’t properly pasteurized. Green Field Farms Dairy is located in Fredericksburg, Ohio and the determination was based on findings from the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
How to spot the recalled milk
The pasteurization issue is specific to the Whole Chocolate Milk product. The product is available under the brand name Green Field Farms. Impacted containers were sold from September 7 through September 16. Also note that the containers at issue all have an expiration date of September 29, 2021.
The recalled milk comes from Ohio but was available for purchase in a few surrounding states. Over the course of about a week, the milk in question was for sale in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington DC.
Suffice it to say, if you have this milk in your fridge, you should throw it out immediately. Note that you can also return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers who have any questions can call 330-263-0248 for more information.
The risk of unpasteurized milk
Unpasteurized milk can cause any number of serious health complications. Raw milk, as it’s also known, is more likely to carry “dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter.” Additionally, unpasteurized milk is more likely to cause bouts of food poisoning. In short, this particular milk recall is worth highlighting.
The FDA adds:
These bacteria can seriously injure the health of anyone who drinks raw milk or eats products made from raw milk. However, the bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous to people with weakened immune systems (such as transplant patients and individuals with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and diabetes), children, older adults, and pregnant women. In fact, CDC finds that foodborne illness from raw milk especially affects children and teenagers.
While most people who get sick from unpasteurized milk recover, it’s certainly something you want to avoid at all costs.
