Raw Milk Recall Alert in California

California's state agriculture officials have issued a recall for raw milk from Valley Milk Simply Bottled, a Central Valley dairy, after detecting the bird flu virus in a bulk tank sample. The rare and emerging H5N1 virus poses a potential infection risk to humans. Consumers are urged not to drink this milk, though no illnesses have been reported so far.

This is California's second raw milk recall in just two weeks. On December 3, Raw Farm LLC of Fresno voluntarily pulled all its raw milk and cream products from shelves due to possible bird flu contamination. Valley Milk’s facility is located roughly 100 miles from Raw Farm LLC.

The outbreak is part of a broader issue nationwide. According to the USDA, the H5N1 virus was recently confirmed in a backyard poultry flock in Louisiana, marking the 50th state affected. Since the disease first surfaced in February 2022, nearly 124 million birds have died across the U.S.

California residents are advised to stay informed and exercise caution with raw milk products as officials work to manage these outbreaks.