‘Yes, we caused some illnesses’: Raw milk supplier from Fresno County responds to claims

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – The CEO of a Fresno County-based supplier of “raw milk” is firing back against claims his products were the cause of a salmonella outbreak . Raw Farm CEO Mark Mcafee acknowledged an outbreak happened – but claims it was far smaller and less severe than what was reported.

“There’s nothing new here about this at all. Yes, we caused some illnesses that occurred in September and October of 2023, but there’s been nothing since,” said McAfee.

The claims are outlined in an article by the Associated Press , which added that the outbreak ended May 4. The article alleged that at least 165 people across four states were sickened with salmonella infections from his raw milk products as of February of this year; the article says that resulted in 20 people being hospitalized.

“Raw milk only lasts seven days, so you’re not going to have ongoing illnesses and it was a very short period of time with one code date, and was affected by one cow that was sick in our herd,” said McAfee.

McAfee claims the outbreak ended well before the end of last year when they voluntarily recalled some products.

“I do know that there were a couple of people that went to the hospital overnight, but everybody fully recovered and we’re very happy about that,” said McAfee.

According to the Fresno County Department of Public Health, only two recent cases of salmonella in the county have been linked to Raw Farm.

“Those were back in October and December of 2023 we’re not aware of additional cases here in Fresno County since then,” said Dr. John Zweifler, medical consultant, Fresno County Department of Public Health

Fresno County could not confirm the numbers from the Associated Press but did say that even with clean vetted tested processes used by raw milk suppliers like Raw Farm the county recommends caution.

“Pasteurization is basically heating up milk to kill anything that may be in there. In particular bacteria, viruses, or parasites. The CDC recommends you do not drink raw milk and you instead drink pasteurized milk,” said Dr. Zweifler.

On Friday afternoon, the California Department of Public Health sent yourcentralvalley.com a statement regarding the investigation, which concluded on May 4.

In October 2023, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) was alerted by San Diego County Public Health about multiple Salmonellosis cases. CDPH conducted a public health investigation in concert with local officials and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), which regulates raw milk producers in California. CDPH, working with CDFA, asked firm management at Raw Farm for a voluntary recall. Raw Farm was cooperative and posted a recall on October 25.

The majority of cases had an illness onset date between late September and December, 2023. The case investigation handled by CDPH ended on May 4, 2024. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was aware of the investigation and assisted with some coordination with cases in other states.

California Department of Public Health.

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