Florida health officials are warning about the risk of consuming raw milk after more than 20 people, some whom are children, were left sick with E. coli and campylobacter bacteria-related illness amid a growing health trend.
State health officials linked the campylobacter and shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections, also known as STEC infections, to an unnamed farm, citing sanitation practices as a particular concern, according to a Monday announcement by the Florida Department of Health.
The department warns that STEC bacteria can result in kidney failure and a breakdown in red blood cells, known as hemolysis.
There have been 21 cases, including six children under the age of 10, and seven hospitalizations linked to consuming raw milk, or milk that has not gone through the pasteurization process to kill off harmful bacteria, produced at the farm.
Popular medical content creator Dr. Zachary E. Rubin, a pediatrician certified in allergy and immunology, shared a TikTok video in which he explained the Florida outbreak is a “result of the lies that have been spread across the internet, social media, by some celebrities and influencers talking about the potential benefits of raw milk that are not better than it being pasteurized.”
