“I’ve put a couple kids in the hospital, and they have been sick, but they recovered,” McAfee acknowledged before my visit. “But here’s the thing: I’m a pioneer. And I’m going against the grain here. I’m climbing a mountain they say you can’t climb.”
…
“We catch these things and divert the milk immediately,” McAfee said of the pathogens.
I assumed that after diverting batches, the farm discarded them.
Later that day, I learned otherwise.
“We have a red-flag system here, where if there’s anything that gets really out of whack, they can immediately tag the milk, and it doesn’t go to anything but cheese,” McAfee told me. “Because, you know, cheese is resistant to pathogens.”
Research has shown that raw cheese is not, in fact, resistant to pathogens; while aging can mitigate some risk, harmful bacteria can still survive the usual 60-day maturation process.
People get sick from raw milk cheeses in France constantly.
https://www.anses.fr/en/content/raw-milk-cheeses-what-are-associated-health-risks-and-what-preventive-measures-can-be-taken
This article from ANSES mention that the current risk is low, even if it can happen nevertheless. "However, there is still a residual risk and it is important to identify new ways of optimising the current control measures. "
That little bit there is absolutely bullshit.
These numbers are absolutely horrendous of you know what they mean.
Salmonella is the most common foodborne pathogen. Most outbreaks are small (due to poor sanitation). They are estimated to happen multiple times a day. 34% means that somebody is getting sick, daily.
Listeria and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli are deadly. Knowing that 37% of listeria and 60% of E.coli deaths are directly linked to raw cheese. Frances cheese industry and government is accepting completely preventable deaths. Simple pasturization can prevent 90-95% of these cases.
Quality and control matter a lot. Another good example is MettBrochen (raw pork toast)
60% looks scary, until you look at the numbers behind : “In 2023, 2,231 outbreaks of foodborne illness were reported in France, affecting 22,282 people, of whom 549 (2%) sought medical care (hospitalization or emergency room visits) and 19 (0.1%) died.” Admitting that raw milk was associated with 60% of the deaths, this is still a relatively low number compared to the numbers of consumers. https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/en/toxi-infections-alimentaires-collectives/national-bulletin/outbreaks-foodborne-illness-france-2023-report