Wisconsin State Senator Grothman (R-West Bend) is planning to introduce a bill to the legislature sometime this year that would legalize the sale of raw milk, with “appropriate safeguards”. Food safety advocates are already working to defeat the bill because raw milk and raw milk products can be contaminated with E. coli and other dangerous pathogens.
“We recently represented several people sickened by raw milk cheese,” said Fred Pritzker, lead attorney for our Bad Bug Law Team. “Our clients had samples of raw milk cheese at stores in several states. The cheese was contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a dangerous strain that can cause serious injury and death. One of our clients was a young child who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome from the E. coli infection. Her kidneys shut down, and she was on dialysis when her mother contacted us.” You can contact Fred for a FREE consultation HERE.
Young E. coli victims are at risk of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and adult E. coli victims are at risk of developing thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), sometimes referred to as TTP-HUS because it is very similar to HUS. Fred and his team of E. coli lawyers represent HUS and TTP clients throughout the United States, filing lawsuits seeking compensation for kidney failure, brain damage from stroke and other complications, pancreatitis, severe hypertension, hemorrhagic colitis and other health problems.
“The Wisconsin legislature should not legalize the sale of raw milk,” said Fred. “If raw milk is allowed to be sold at grocery stores on a large scale, an outbreak of illness could sicken hundreds of people. Statistically, we know that some of them would get HUS and/or TTP, and some of those people would most likely die.”
The Wisconsin Safe Milk Coalition is also urging lawmakers to oppose the bill. The groups included in the coalition are the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, American Academy of Pediatrics, Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, the Wisconsin Public Health Association, and the Wisconsin Medical Society.
The Wisconsin Safe Milk Coalition letter states:
“Studies and public health outbreaks make clear that raw milk can cause people to become ill. Doctors, public health leaders, and microbiology professionals recognize the substantial risk for serious infectious diseases to occur with the consumption of unpasteurized milk. Moreover, there is no published scientific evidence of any benefit from raw milk consumption and no evidence that pasteurization reduces the nutritional value of milk.” They go on to state that “it is impossible to make unpasteurized (raw) milk safe.”
Last year there were six raw milk outbreaks in the United States, sickening a reported 130 people.
