Food Safety Lawyer Calls On New Jersey To Stop Raw Milk Madness

NEW JERSEY – National food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker is calling on the New Jersey Legislature to kill a bill that would allow public sale of unpasteurized milk at farms where it is produced.

The New Jersey bill, passed this week by a lopsided vote of the state Assembly, is exactly opposite of what the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Pediatrics has been warning for decades: Raw milk can carry pathogens that can make you very sick or kill you.

“Putting dangerous food into commerce is lawmaking at its worst,’’ said Pritzker, a leading food poisoning attorney who has represented families and individuals who have been sickened in raw milk outbreaks of E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria and Salmonella. Currently he represents a Pennsylvania man who was permanently paralyzed by Campylobacter bacteria in raw milk that caused Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), which ravaged his central nervous system.

“New Jersey is setting a shameful example for the rest of the country if it proceeds to adopt a law that pushes people into harm’s way,’’ Pritzker said.

At least six other states this year are considering similar proposals to liberalize trade in raw milk under the phony pretense that it is more nutritious and healthful than pasteurized milk. Is bacterial disease a virtue? Contrary to what is claimed by proponents of raw milk who are selling the product for up to $15 a gallon — it is one of the riskiest of all foods.

In its latest consumer alert against contaminated raw milk, the FDA and CDC include a statistic that New Jersey and other states choose to ignore by toying with raw milk. From 1998 to 2008, public outbreaks of food poisoning caused by contaminated raw milk resulted in 1,614 confirmed illnesses, 187 hospitalizations and two deaths. In Minnesota last year alone, more than 50 people fell ill from germs associated with drinking raw milk, including E. coli O157:H7, a pathogen that emits a potentially lethal toxin that causes hemolytic uremic syndrome (E. coli HUS).

“Permitting the sale of raw milk is a trap that will inflict an enormous toll on families who will be stricken by illness,’’ Pritzker said.

Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free). Mr. Pritzker is the founding partner of PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a Minneapolis, MN law firm that represents victims of raw milk food poisoning nationwide. Mr. Pritzker has won millions for food poisoning victims and has appeared on national and local news programs to discuss foodborne illness lawsuits and food safety.

Source: PritzkerOlsen, P.A.