The Food Standards Agency of the U.K. has warned consumers against purchase of Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese products.  Widely distributed, the gourmet cheese line was manufactured with unpasteurized milk.  The E.coli O145 strain producing Shiga toxin resulted in 30 diagnosed cases of which 11 were hospitalized, one with hemolytic uremic syndrome and with one fatality. 

No commercial dairy food should be produced using un-pasteurized milk given the risk of infection from a wide range of pathogens including E.coli, Salmonella and Listeria among others.

The move in many states to permit sale and distribution of raw milk is inexplicable other than some form of defiance against science and regulation. These “Freedom to Infect” laws will take their toll on consumers and especially children.