21 sick with E. coli and food poisoning, including 6 young kids, after ingesting raw milk from Florida farm

Nearly two dozen people, including six young children, were infected with E. coli or Campylobacter infections after drinking raw milk from a Florida farm, according to local health officials.

Of the 21 people sickened, seven were hospitalized, including two with severe complications, after consuming the tainted dairy. It’s unclear if any of those hospitalized included the young children, who are all under 10 years old.

Officials also didn’t specify whether those being treated suffered from E. coli, Campylobacter or both bacterial infections.

“Sanitation practices in this farm are of particular concern due to the number of cases,” public health officials wrote in a state advisory.

The farm that sparked the outbreak across central and northeast Florida was not named.

The bacterial infections can primarily cause various forms of gastrointestinal illnesses and, in severe cases, life-threatening complications like kidney failure.

Still, some groups — like vegans who believe dairy farming is unethical — seek out raw milk as a preferred alternative in spite of the risks health officials ceaselessly warn against.

“We invented pasteurization for a reason. It’s maddening that this is happening,” Keith Schneider, a food safety professor at the University of Florida, said.

In an attempt to cater to the unrelenting raw milk lovers, many states have implemented varying regulations regarding the dairy’s sale. Some, bizarrely, permit “cowshares” where customers can purchase milk produced by designated animals, while others only allow raw milk to be consumed by farm owners and their employees or “non-paying guests.”

Florida explicitly prohibits the sale and distribution of raw milk for human consumption, so many retailers skirt around the rule by labeling their products as for pets or animals only.

Once the carton is out the door, though, it’s anybody’s game.

Between September 2023 and March 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded “one of the largest food-borne outbreaks linked to raw milk in recent US history” that infected more than 160 people in California with Salmonella.

The outbreak was linked back to raw milk products from the same dairy, according to the CDC.

Unlike Florida, California has limited regulations on the commercial sale of raw milk.

With Post wires.